


The Overlooked

by HarleyJQuin



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: BAMF Stiles, Bad Friend Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), Dragon Stiles Stilinski, Good Deucalion (Teen Wolf), M/M, Mentions of past non con not graphic, Season One Redo, Seeley Booth Cameo, Warning: Kate Argent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:07:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 52,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27857294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HarleyJQuin/pseuds/HarleyJQuin
Summary: After Scott wolfs out on Jackson and Allison the night of the full moon, Jackson asks the right questions and finds things changing more than he ever imagined possible.
Relationships: Derek Hale & Stiles Stilinski, Deucalion/Peter Hale, Stiles Stilinski/Jackson Whittemore
Comments: 669
Kudos: 929





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Season: One(ish), I stuck canon in a blender and picked out the good bits. Dates are also slightly changed to be somewhat logical.  
> Betas/Enablers: [QueenieKildare](https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenieKildare), [Dark_Nights_Syn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dark_Nights_Syn/pseuds/Dark_Nights_Syn)
> 
> This is my nano project, it's finished, and the plan is to post a chapter each week as I work on EFB, QB and the sequel. (Tags will be added as I post, you know because Spoilers)

****

**February 22nd, 2011**

Scott was ignoring Stiles after the clusterfuck that was the full moon. Stiles wasn’t sad to be ignored like he normally would be, but he was fast getting tired of Scott’s behavior of late. 

He really wanted to blame the full moon for how Scott had been acting recently, especially for the makeout session he’d had with Lydia in Coach’s office, but he knew better. Scott had always been about doing what was best for Scott and screw everyone else. Stiles knew he wasn’t really into Lydia but Scott didn’t know that. As far as Scott and the rest of the school were concerned, Lydia was the love of his life, just one of the many masks he wore to protect himself.

He was using the free time he had wisely to look closer at the Hale fire. He knew the report he found using his dad’s login at the station was a load of garbage. The arson investigator had filed the fire as an accident after just a few days. There were no tests filed on the electrical equipment or the house itself, and there was also no mention of accelerant in the report which Stiles found suspicious since you can still smell the accelerant at the house six years later, although he admitted to himself that could be due to his heightened senses.

Stiles was deep into the investigation into the fire inspector, as he seemed to be the best link to deep dive into, when he heard someone approaching the front door. He silently made his way down to the front door confused, it was rare for anyone to use the door these days. Scott and Derek tended to just climb into his window and no one else visited him. He had no idea where ether wolf was since Scott had escaped out of his window last night and was refusing to answer his texts. Again.

Stiles had grabbed his baseball bat as he left his bedroom so when the person pacing on the porch finally knocked he held the bat behind the door as he opened it. He started in surprise before his eyes narrowed in suspicion, he asked, “Jackson? What do you want?”

Jackson rolled his eyes as he demanded, “We need to talk, Stilinski.”

Stiles opened the door fully as he moved his baseball bat to the other hand. Jackson gave it a sideways glance as he walked past Stiles to the living room.

Jackson glanced at the bat, he couldn’t work out why Stiles would be answering the door with a baseball bat handy. He wondered if it was related to why he was at the Stilinski house looking for answers.

Stiles ignored his surreptitious glances and he asked again, “Why are you here? Is this about Scott and Lydia making out before Lacrosse practice yesterday?”

Jackson paled, “What?”

Stiles said, “I know you saw her lipstick was smudged, what you seem to have missed is that Scott was wearing the same shade… Also smudged.”

Jackson snarled, “That fucker. Why?”

“Why did he do it?” Stiles asked before he shrugged and he said, “Spite? Malice? He told me he was going to ask her if she was into me. I told him not to bother but he was determined.”

Jackson interrupted with a laugh, “Some best-friend, half the school knows your gay, although some suspect bisexual. Even Lyds knows she’s your beard.”

Stiles shrugged self deprecatingly, “I don’t think Scott cares who I like to be honest, as long as it’s not Allison, it is what it is. I know I get pitying looks from him when I appear to lust after Lydia. But then it’s not like others are clambering to be friends with me. Anyway, this isn’t about me, if you aren’t here because of the kiss then why are you here?”

Jackson threw him the glove that had been sitting in his lap. Stiles flipped it over and he saw McCall written on the inside of the cuff and he demanded, “Why do you have Scott’s glove?”

Jackson thought carefully before he replied, “I found it after one of our practices, he had left it behind on the field. I thought the holes at the fingertips were a bit weird,” he paused for a few as he dug around in his pocket for the claw he had found, he held it out to Stiles as he said, “Until I found this claw embedded in my car last night.”

Stiles looked between the claw sitting in the palm of his hand and the glove with claw holes in the fingertips and he said, “Fuck.” He looked up at Jackson and he demanded, “What do you know?”

Jackson smirked before he let his face go neutral again, “Honestly? Not much, I know that before winter break McCall was an asthmatic nobody who didn’t share his toys. He came back from winter break with a dramatic increase in agility, strength, and popularity, oh and his asthma was cured all of a sudden. I know you both knew what was happening at the school that night, and I think Allison did too.”

Stiles shook his head and he disagreed, “Not Allison, I don’t know if she knows now, but she didn’t going into the school. Apparently, her family are keeping her out of it all.”

Jackson was surprised by how different Stiles seemed when he was on his own, he was flailing less and more confident and the lack of fidgeting was a bit unnerving so he asked quietly, “Will you tell me?”

Stiles sneered and he demanded harshly, “Why? So you have more ammunition to use against us. You have hated us for years, Jackson, why change that now.”

Jackson slumped back into the sofa and he said quietly, “I am tired of fighting Stiles. I have tried so hard to hate you, but I can’t. I hate that you chose him over me, that you gave up our friendship for him when he treats you like he does. Like something he can use and abuse, before he throws it away for something better when it comes along. I hate that I let him take you away from me.”

Stiles said, “You had Danny and Lydia, Scott had no one but me.”

“I know,” Jackson confirmed, “But McCall doesn't deserve your loyalty though.”

Stiles snarked, “And Lydia doesn’t deserve yours if we are being honest. We can blame Scott for that make-out session in Coach’s office all we want but it takes two to tango. I know you know it wasn’t the first time she has stepped out on you.”

Jackson nodded as he pulled out his phone, “I know, she’s been threatening to leave me for McCall since he was made co-captain.”

Stiles was stunned that Jackson was actually admitting the dream relationship wasn't the dream they portray to the world, aghast he asked, “Why?”

Jackson chuckled, “I wasn't being a good minion, she considers my brain a downside in the relationship since she can’t push me around like she would others.”

He thought about what Lydia had been doing for longer than he wanted to admit and he sent off the text to cancel their planned movie date.  
  
To Lyds: I need to cancel tonight, I have other plans.  
From Lyds: What?  
To Lyds: I have other plans, I’ll see you at school tomorrow.

He put his phone in his pocket as he took a steadying breath. He pleaded, “I want to know. Please. If nothing else I can at least be there to help you with whatever this shit show is, you know I am smart even if I do hide it and I am more likely to answer my phone than McCall is these days.”

Stiles stood from the sofa as he contemplated his options, he decided Jackson wasn’t wrong which was a revelation that saddened him somewhat. He picked up the glove and his baseball bat and he started up the stairs to his room. Halfway up he realized that Jackson wasn’t following him and he turned and he asked, “Are you coming?”

Jackson jumped up to follow Stiles, he made sure to pick up the claw from the coffee table as he walked past.

Jackson got settled on the bed while Stiles sat at his computer desk. Stiles pulled up his investigation files on his laptop before he turned in his chair and he asked, “Long story or short?”

Jackson looked at his watch before he remembered he no longer had a date tonight so he said, “Long I think.”

Stiles nodded and he pulled up the document he had been working on, he asked, “What do you know about the Hale family.”

“Not much, I was secretly friends with Cora before the fire,” Jackson admitted, “David always shut down any discussions about the family though and the one time I was paired with Cora for a group project he was pissed. He called the school and he forced the teacher to change the partners around so I was paired with someone else. I never asked why, it seemed safer not to.”

Stiles looked at Jackson with wide-open eyes, he said, “That seems… odd.” He filed away the fact that Jackson called his adoptive dad David for later before he launched into his explanation, “Right, so the Hale family essentially founded Beacon Hills. I have found records dating back to the first settlers here. One of the journals at the library mentioned asking for the Hale’s permission to create a settlement on their land. A lot of the county land is still leased from the Hale family trust.”

Jackson cleared his throat to stop Stiles rambling and he asked, “So does this relate to the weirdness currently going on and McCall’s new superpowers.”

Stiles laughed and he said, “It does, so so much. So the Hales are werewolves. Born werewolves. I think from what I have been able to find out there were a few humans born into the family over the years but they are rare. Most of the humans in the Hale Pack were married in.”

Jackson asked, “That’s why McCall now has claws?”

Stiles nodded, “As well as glowing eyes and a serious case of muttonchops when he shifts. Right, so as with most stories about supernatural creatures, where there are supernatural creatures there are supernatural creature hunters. In Beacon Hills, it’s the Argent family who are an established family of werewolf hunters.”

Jackson muttered, “Silver. In French Argent means silver.” He looked at Stiles and he asked incredulously, “That’s where the silver killing werewolves myth comes from?”

Stiles smiled and he said, “Ding ding ding. At least that's what my research shows me, I haven’t actually asked the Argents since they seem to be a bit batshit crazy. But, yeah, their family has been hunting wolves for over 200 years since the Beast of Gévaudan aka Sebastian Valet was turned in France and went feral. His sister Marie-Jeanne Argent née Valet took him out and the Argent hunting dynasty was founded. Fast forward to 2005 when Kate Argent, Allison’s aunt, got a job at the local high school and she seduced a very underage Derek Hale and used the information she learned from him to set fire to the Hale House during a full moon, burning the entire family alive.”

Jackson said, “But the papers said it was an accident, it was reported as an accidental electrical fire.”

Stiles huffed, “Yes, the case was closed a mere four days after the fire. What sort of arson investigator declares a fire an electrical malfunction after only a few days of investigating. That doesn't even allow for time for the lab tests to complete.”

Jackson said, “Right, yeah that doesn’t make sense. So what happened to Scott?”

Stiles said, “We went out to look for the half a body that was missing in the preserve. I was found by my dad fairly early on and Scott decided rather than fess up and be grounded by his mother for being in the preserve at night that he would try and make a run for the jeep. While he was stumbling through the preserve he got bitten by an alpha werewolf and he turned. He considers it the worst thing that ever happened to him.”

Jackson asked dryly, “Seriously? It gave him agility, strength, popularity, and it cured his asthma but it’s the worst thing that ever happened to him? What a dickhead.”

Stiles shrugged not disagreeing but refusing to voice his agreement with the sentiment. “It means he can’t be with his precious Allison because he’s a werewolf and she’s from a hunting family. Romeo and Juliet got nothing on those two. Anyway from what I can tell the alpha is behind the recent animal attacks and the evidence shows that every single death is related to the Hale fire.”

Jackson sat up and he demanded, “How?”

Stiles counted off the deaths on his fingers as he listed, “The half a body we were looking for that night was Laura Hale. After the fire, she took her brother Derek and they vanished abandoning their severely injured Uncle in the hospital. The body on the bus was the arson investigator, Garrison Myers, who declared the fire an electrical malfunction. He was fired six months after the fire for taking bribes from a local insurance company. Because the insurance company was not the one used by the Hales the fire investigation wasn’t reopened. The guy in the video store had a rap sheet for arson as did the two guys that were found dead in the preserve yesterday.”

Jackson asked, “How did you know it was Kate Argent who seduced Derek?”

“Dad made a few notes on the file before the investigator closed the file as it was declared an accidental fire, not an arson.” Stiles pointed at the photo of the notes on his screen as he explained, “The notes mentioned a teacher at the school who had been seen around town with Derek Hale. I ran her picture through the station’s facial recognition software under dad’s login and it came back with her ID. She disappeared from the school after the fire. She’s back in town and gunning for Derek as far as I can tell. She’s already shot him once.”

Jackson pulled out his phone and he ignored the texts from Lydia as he pulled up a browser. He did a few searches on google as he pondered, “What if the Hale fire wasn’t her first or last attack? What if there are others?”

He stood and moved to the desk to show Stiles the search results. There were several news articles of entire families that had been wiped out by accidental fires. Most of the families lived remotely, and the articles showed a teenager who survived in each of the fires. Stiles scrolled through the list, making notes from the various articles into his investigation document in the TBD section until he paused when he recognized one of the names.

“Brett Talbot,” Stiles muttered, “I think he goes to Devonford Prep, he’s friends with my old friend Heather.”

Jackson confirmed, “Yeah, he plays on their Lacrosse team, joined at the start of the last season. He’s a powerful player. I guess if he was in one of the families targeted by Kate then we know why he’s a powerful player. He doesn’t show off like McCall does though.”

Stiles pulled out his phone and he sent a quick message to Heather asking for Brett’s number. He mentioned having a lacrosse question for him. He received a speedy reply with an invite to her birthday next month and Brett’s number. She made him promise no stealing team secrets.

Stiles chuckled as he replied to her letting her know he would be at the party. He started to input Brett’s number but Jackson interrupted when he asked, “What if we prove she has done this to other packs? What if she finds out we are investigating?”

Stiles said in a hard voice, “She won’t.”

“Stiles,” Jackson said pleadingly, “She was able to take out a large prominent family without any fear of repercussions. Talia Hale was on the city council, her husband taught at the elementary school as well as serving on the high school board, and her father was still working in his medical practice when the fire killed them.”

Stiles said, “If she takes me out I have all the notes and evidence on the fire backed up to the cloud. The login details are in my email in a draft that is scheduled to be sent out in a week, I change the date on the email every few days. The email is set to go to several people including a Special Agent with the FBI that I know through dad.”

Jackson commented, “Us. I want in Stiles. Cora was my friend, even if I had to hide it from my parents.”

Stiles nodded as he picked up his phone. “Ok, let me call Brett. See if he will agree to meet us.”

Stiles was quick to get an agreement from Brett to meet them in the next town over for coffee in 30 minutes. Jackson suggested they take the Porsche as it was less recognizable than the Jeep.

Stiles commented, “Roscoe is still in the shop after what the alpha did to it at the school.”


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Posting the second chapter early... just because. Chapter three will be posted on schedule.

**Chapter Two**   
**February 22nd, 2011**

On the trip to the coffee shop, Jackson suggested, “Danny would be able to help us gather evidence.”

Stiles grimaced and he said, “I thought about it but I want to keep him out of trouble. He’s still on probation after he got caught hacking by the FBI.”

Jackson nodded in understanding, “I think if we’re careful and we show him the evidence you have already gathered he would help. You didn’t see him after the fire, he was devastated to lose Cora, they were very close friends.”

Stiles took a deep breath before he said quietly, “She is missing, not dead. Her body wasn’t in the basement with the rest of her family. I have been looking for hints that she’s alive but I haven’t had any luck yet. I have tried doing searches with facial recognition software, but no joy there either.”

Jackson gasped, “Are you serious?”

Stiles shrugged, “I can’t find proof either way. It’s why I haven’t said anything to Derek. He’s already close to breaking point, for all that he presents a stoic image. I think if I said she might be alive, then we found out she truly was dead, it would end him.”

Jackson pulled up outside the coffee shop and they walked in to find Brett sitting with an older Asian woman.

They stopped to order coffees and they indicated they would be joining Brett at his table. Once they were seated Stiles stated, “I am Stiles Stilinski and this is Jackson Whittemore, we are looking into the Hale fire, we are 99.9% sure the fire was arson.”

Brett gave them both a hard look and he said, “This is my guardian, Satomi Ito. She took me in after my family was killed last year. I am not sure why you would want to talk to me about the Hale fire, I was only ten when it happened.”

Stiles decided the blunt approach was best and he said, “I think the same person set both the Hale fire and the fire that killed your pack. From what we have been able to dig up she seems to have a history of attacking entire packs.”

Brett started at this, he glanced at Satomi and he asked, “What?”

Stiles placed his phone on the table showing the pair a photo of Kate Argent and he explained, “This woman worked as a substitute teacher at Beacon Hills High School under the name Katie Silva at the time of the Hale fire. She seduced a young member of the Hale pack, made sure he survived the fire, then she bribed the arson investigator to declare the fire an electrical malfunction after only four days with no lab work to back up the claim.”

Satomi asked, “The animal attacks currently plaguing Beacon Hills?”

Stiles sighed and he said, “They are all people involved in the fire. Three of those killed were known arsonists, the bus driver was the arson investigator who declared it an electrical malfunction. Someone involved wants to kill those at fault. As for Laura, we are pretty sure she was killed for her alpha power.”

Brett said, “You don’t sm… seem put off by that.”

Stiles shrugged, “They killed almost an entire family and then went out of their way to make sure the insurance wasn’t paid out to the survivors. There were nine bodies in that house including two toddlers. Personally, I think they got what was coming to them.”

Satomi frowned and she asked, “Nine? I thought there were eleven killed in the fire.”

Jackson looked at Stiles who nodded before he said, “Peter Hale has been in a coma in the long-term care ward with severe burns to 70% of his body, and Cora’s body was never found, so she’s officially listed as missing. Stiles has been trying to find her, but he’s keeping the searches under the radar which makes it harder.”

Satomi offered, “I can reach out to some other alphas I know, see if they have seen Cora. I contacted Laura after the fire and offered to take in her and Derek, but she decided it would be safer for them to run. She told me Peter died in the hospital.”

Stiles snarled, “The more I hear about Laura, the more I dislike her. She left him there on his own under his real name for any hunter to find.”

Jackson nudged him in a silent order to calm down and he gestured to the photo on the screen of Stiles’ phone and he asked, “Brett, do you recognize the woman in the photo?”

Brett nodded, “She was my French tutor. The school I was at hires tutors to help in after school groups to help the teachers. I was falling behind in French so they put me in her tutoring group. She was using the name, Katherine Airgead.”

Jackson made notes on his phone as Brett talked, things he wanted them to look into when they got home.

Brett explained, “She gave me a few private tutoring sessions and she tried to hit on me. I thought nothing of it since I am not into girls and I pretty much ignored her. I never thought to report it though. She was always asking questions about anything and everything.”

Satomi asked, “What do you plan to do with this information? If word gets out that you are investigating the fires you’ll have put a target on both of your backs.”

Stiles smirked, “I am the son of the Beacon County Sheriff, Jackson is the adopted son of the Beacon County DA. If they go after us they put an even bigger target on their own backs. Once I have definite verifiable proof I plan to send it in anonymously to an FBI Agent I know.”

Satomi asked incredulously, “You want to involve human law enforcement?”

Stiles asked faux innocently, “Why not. Are they going to claim they did it because the families were werewolves? No, of course not, that will be a one way trip to the looney bin. By involving the FBI it will make it harder for them to bribe their way out of it. If you take out the supernatural element they look like serial killers, specifically family annihilators.”

Satomi looked to be contemplating the logic of involving human law enforcement so Jackson asked, “Brett would you be willing to give a statement with examples of the questions she was asking?”

Brett looked at Satomi for permission before he nodded hesitatingly. 

Satomi checked her watch and she said, “We should go, I need to go make sure dinner is being prepared for the pack.” She passed a business card to Stiles and she said, “If you have any questions or find out about any other packs that were targeted please contact me. Also please let Derek know my door is always open if he needs me, I was good friends with his mother.”

Stiles smiled and he said, “Thank you, Alpha.”

The drive home was quiet and Stiles could hear Jackson’s phone vibrating fairly constantly, he eventually asked, “Are you going to answer her?”

Jackson huffed, “Why? If I answer or reply she will just suck me back in. This isn’t the first time she’s cheated on me. I have always forgiven her without her accepting she was in the wrong. No more.”

Stiles asked quietly, “Want me to read them and give you a summary?”

Jackson shook his head, “Nope, I will just delete them later. I need to stop at school on the way back to your place. I got distracted after I found the claw and I accidentally left half my books in my locker.”

Stiles smirked, “Ok. Need help getting into the school?”

Jackson smiled, “Sure. How is it that you are so proficient at breaking the rules when your dad is the sheriff.”

“You have to know the rules to know how to bend them,” Stiles explained with a grin.

They pulled up at the school and Stiles noticed Derek following them into the parking lot in the Camaro.

Derek saw them walking to the school building so he chased them and he demanded, “What are you two doing here?”

Jackson raised an eyebrow and he remained silent. Stiles turned and kept walking to pick the lock to the side door. He called out, “Are you coming Jackson, or do you want to stare down Sourwolf all night.”

Jackson turned to walk to the door Stiles had opened. He asked, “Won’t the alarms go off?”

Stiles shook his head, “They aren’t set until the janitorial staff leave, and they don’t leave before 10 pm.” He turned back to Derek and he asked, “Are you coming, Sourwolf, or did you want to lurk outside all night?”

Derek looked around and he was surprised when he didn't see the teen wolf around, so he asked, “Where’s Scott? I thought you two were joined at the hip.”

Stiles rolled his eyes and he said, “He’s not speaking to me. I tried to stop him from doing something stupid last night and he is angry at me for trying to help him not get killed by the hunters. As it is he was dumb enough to try and approach Allison and Jackson fully shifted last night. He left behind a claw as evidence.” 

Derek rolled his eyes as he said, “I tried to catch him before he got to the car but he was too fast. He won’t listen to you, he won’t listen to me unless it’s something he wants to hear. He asked about a cure last night, I told him there were only myths and fairytales that if you kill the alpha that turned you then you will revert to human.”

Jackson snorted and he asked, “Isn't that vampires?”

“Scotty can barely kill a spider, he’s not going to be able to actually kill an alpha werewolf. Especially not one on a killing spree!” Stiles exclaimed. “I call dibs on not telling him that it won’t work, he will blame whoever takes the option away from him.”

Jackson stood at his locker and pulled out several books before they made their way to the exit. As they walked down the dark hallway, Derek cocked his head and he whispered, “Shit, the alpha is here.”

Stiles flailed in faux surprise and he asked quietly, “Where?”

Derek concentrated and he could hear a second voice, he murmured, “Harris. He’s talking to Harris about Laura.” He threw his keys to Stiles and he said, “Get the Camaro started and be ready to go, I need to go try and catch the alpha.”

Stiles and Jackson took off for the parking lot, Stiles ordered, “Get the Porsche started, you follow the alpha at a safe distance and I will pick up Derek.”

Jackson got in the Porsche and started it. He was worried about what Stiles was planning so he stuck his phone in the cradle and he started a FaceTime call with Stiles. He demanded, “I want you to keep this call going while we are separated, I… I have a bad feeling.”

Stiles nodded, “Sure,” He looked around the center console of the Camaro and he saw a phone cradle that would fit in the vents, “Derek has a cradle, hang on let me set it up.” He moved to put the phone in the cradle on the dash so he could see Jackson, “There that should work. Any sign of the alpha or Derek?”

They both jumped as the police cruisers raced into the parking lot of the school with their lights and sirens going, the boys were parked at the back of the lot and seemed to be ignored by the two cruisers. 

Jackson pulled slowly out of the school when they saw the first figure running from the school out of sight of the deputies. They both agreed it had to be the alpha as it definitely wasn't Derek. He promised Stiles he would be careful and he would stay back.

Stiles waited and he saw the police cruisers chasing Derek as he left the school at speed. “Fuck, they are chasing Derek thanks to Scott and his dumbass ideas.”

Jackson snorted, “He should never be allowed to have ideas. They are always whatever will be best for himself. Even I am not that self-centered. What are you going to do to help Derek get away?”

Stiles smirked as he pulled out of the school at speed, “Distract and evade. The deputies probably shouldn’t have been the ones to teach me how to drive. Where is the alpha heading?”

Jackson said, “He’s running towards the center of town, I think he knows I am following but just doesn’t care.”

Stiles frowned, “Derek is fast. I can see an SUV intercepting him though. It looks like the Argent’s SUV. Fuck, the deputies lost him but the Argents are chasing him.”

Jackson asked, “Can you see the plate? I am pulled over. The alpha has stopped in at a diner.”

Stiles read out the plate, “7ABH318 California plates. It’s a maroon SUV of some sort, I can’t see the model. Fuck, he ran into the ironworks.”

Jackson put the details into his phone as he said, “It sounds like an ambush, you know how to pick the locks, so break in through the secondary entrance around the back and get him out of there.”

Stiles nodded decisively. When he got into the main ironworks building he could see Derek bailed up behind one of the large forklifts. He could see Kate standing outside the SUV alternating between shooting at him and taunting him. She had some other hunters with her but none that he recognized. He wound the window down on the passenger side and yelled “Get the fuck in,” as he drove through the building. 

Under fire from several angles, Derek sprinted for the car as Stiles raced through the ironworks, Derek dove for the window and Stiles got them out of there through the main entrance. As Derek was righting himself in the passenger seat Jackson swore, “Shit, I lost him.”

Stiles demanded, “Where?”

“South side of town, near the hospital,” Jackson explained.

Stiles smacked the steering wheel with his hand which earned him a glare from Derek. “Damn, ok,” He considered the options before he said, “Head back to mine. I will hide the Camaro in the garage until I can force Scott to recant his story so Dad can clear Derek, he can hide in our guest room in the meantime.”

Jackson mock saluted and he hung up the FaceTime call.

Stiles asked, “Why was the alpha talking to Mr. Harris?”

Derek rolled his eyes, so Stiles said, “Look, can you just trust me for half a second damn it. I already have evidence that almost everyone killed so far was involved with the fire. So why was he talking to Harris?”

Derek shrugged, “I don’t know, his name was on a list in Laura’s bag with a note saying accelerant.”

Stiles said, “That makes sense, he is a chemistry teacher and he’s enough of a dick to work with someone like Kate. Did she have anything else in there?”

Derek held up a piece of paper, “Just a drawing. I can show you when we get to your place, I would rather get there in one piece.”

They arrived at the Stilinski house and Jackson had the garage door open already. Stiles carefully parked the Camaro. He reassured Derek his father never used the garage as it had no automatic opener so it wasted time if he got called out on emergencies.

Jackson piped up, “Danny is on his way over, I figure we can go over everything just once.”

Derek followed them in with his duffle bag which Stiles directed him to put in the guest room. When they got to Stiles' room he scowled and demanded, “What everything?”

Jackson saw Stiles hesitate and he suggested, “Just rip off the band-aid.”

Stiles asked, “Derek, will you promise to stay no matter what you hear? This is going to be hard for you to listen to, but you need to stay, we’ll need your help with where to look for some of the evidence.”

Jackson said smugly, “We want to nail the Argent’s to the wall, the guilty ones anyway.”

Derek blinked slowly and he said, “Fine, I’ll stay.”

Derek looked at Jackson and he saw him copying a list of names down in a notebook he had snagged from Stiles. Jackson saw him look over and he explained, “This is a list of fires that have taken down families, most of whom lived remotely and there were survivors in each case. Often young teens. We are going to get Danny to help us pull the evidence from each fire to see if we can find commonalities.”

Derek read down the list and he commented, “I recognize a few of those names. They were packs my mother worked with. I remember the Talbot pack as they were not too far away. The Sullivan, Tagore, and Aspin packs only visited occasionally.”

Stiles added the details to his evidence document as Derek was speaking. He said, “Thanks Derek, this will give Danny a starting point of names to investigate. We talked to Brett Talbot earlier. He is now under the care of Satomi Ito. She has said she is willing to help with details and Brett is willing to give a statement about the fire. She said if you needed anything her door is open, she reached out to Laura after the fire but Laura took you and left.”

Derek looked devastated, “I didn't want to leave Uncle Peter. Laura refused to let me visit.”

Stiles stated darkly, “Laura refused him all visitors. I know dad tried a few times but Peter was listed as having a strict family only visitors policy, even being the sheriff couldn’t get him in. Satomi was told by Laura that Peter died in the hospital.”

Derek frowned and he asked, “Alpha Ito said that? Fuck.”

Stiles nodded, “I do wonder if she told the same thing to other wolves to keep them away from him. I just don’t know why?”

Derek tilted his head and Stiles noticed and he said, “Danny’s here, Jackson you wanna go let him in?”

Derek sat on the bed when Jackson left and he demanded, “Why are you doing this?”

Stiles looked at him sadly and he said, “Honestly? Mostly because I hate the fact you are blaming yourself for something that is the work of a fucking psychopath.”

Danny said, “Oh good, are we finally going to nail the bastards that killed the Hales just because they were what, werewolves?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I write for fun and escapism. Thanks for reading my fic I hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> See you on Thursday (NZT)
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr: [HarleyJQuinWrites.tumblr.com](https://harleyjquinwrites.tumblr.com/)


	3. Chapter Three

**February 22nd, 2011**

Stiles raised an eyebrow at Danny and he asked, “What?”

“It wasn’t hard to put the puzzle together once I had all the pieces,” Danny snarked, “It’s not like McCall is quiet or subtle.”

Stiles facepalmed as Jackson snarked, “He still thinks it's the worst thing that ever happened to him, the idiot. He wants a cure.”

Danny gave him the side-eye and he asked, “Seriously?”

Stiles nodded sadly, he didn’t understand how Scott could hate being a wolf. Even with the threat of the hunters, Scott gained so much more than he lost.

Derek commented, “It’s the only thing stopping him from dating Allison. Her parents won’t approve of her dating a wolf and, to him, that's more important than the gains he got from being turned.”

Danny rolled his eyes and he asked, “Can someone get me up to speed? I want to start gathering the evidence.”

Jackson and Stiles with occasional comments from Derek explained what they knew about the Hale fire and how they thought it was likely that the Talbot, Sullivan, Tagore, and Aspin fires were done by the same person. Stiles was explaining about the recent animal attacks and how the victims were all related to the fire when they all heard Derek gasp. 

He looked over at Jackson and he asked, “Where did you say you lost sight of the alpha again?”

Jackson frowned as he tried to remember, as Stiles answered, “By the hospital. What are you thinking, Sourwolf?”

Derek started to pace as he put the pieces together and he asked, “Can you print out what you have already?”

Stiles turned to his laptop and he printed out the evidence and photos he had already and put them all in a manilla folder before he handed it all to Derek. 

Derek tapped the folder before he said quietly, “I think I know who the alpha is. We need to go see him before he kills Kate… or Scott.”

Stiles demanded, “Why would he kill Scott?”

Derek huffed, “Because if it’s who I think it is, he heard Scott say that the Argents must’ve had a good reason for burning my pack to the ground.”

Stiles looked at Derek horrified and he exclaimed quietly, “Fucking hell! He didn’t?”

Derek nodded, “Scott has decided the Argents are all that is good and happy in this world.”

Stiles snatched the folder back and he stalked to the door and he barked, “Let’s go.”

Danny called out, “Not me, the hospital wifi is shit and monitored.” Stiles poked his head back in the room so he explained, ”I am going to stay here and go digging. When will your dad be back?”

Stiles shrugged, “With all the animal attacks he’s pretty much living at the station. There are food and snacks downstairs, help yourself, text us if you need anything.”

They took the Porsche, with Stiles cramming himself into the backseat. While they were on the way Stiles texted Danny about the possibility of finding evidence to frame Kate for the animal attacks. Danny just sent back a devil emoji which made Stiles chuckle.

Derek helped them navigate through the hospital without running into anyone as Stiles took them on a route that avoided all the cameras. They all slipped into Peter’s room and Stiles snicked the door lock as he was the last to enter.

Stiles was determined to keep his abilities to himself for a bit longer mouthed ‘awake?’ to Derek as they approached an apparently sleeping Peter, Derek listened to Peter’s heart rate and he nodded. 

“Alpha Hale.” Stiles said quietly, “We need to talk.”

Peter continued to feign sleep so Stiles moved the dinner tray and placed the evidence upon it before he moved it within Peter’s reach.

Stiles stated, “In front of you is the evidence we have found proving the fire of your home was not an electrical malfunction. We are looking into several other fires that have the same MO, four of which were allies of the Hale Pack.”

Faster than any of them could react Peter had Stiles up against the wall with his claws to Stiles’ throat. He growled, “Explain!”

Stiles instinctively bared his throat and he asked, “Where would you like me to start, Alpha?”

Peter moved back with a look of puzzlement on his scarred face and he said, “You don’t smell like fear.”

Jackson snorted from where Derek was holding him back. He snarked, “Stilinski doesn’t do fear. He has always run at danger rather than away from it.”

Stiles shrugged as he knew Jackson was not wrong. He was pretty sure he took after his former army ranger dad, plus knowing he was bigger and badder than most things helped.

Peter let go of Stiles and he took a few steps back before he asked, “Stilinski? That means you must be Mischief.”

Stiles nodded, “Huh, I haven’t heard that name in a while, but yes. I am… was Mischief, I go by Stiles now.”

He moved over and he picked up the manilla folder and he passed it to Peter who got back into the hospital bed.

Derek pulled out the drawing from his pocket and he passed it to Stiles, “I forgot to give you this, it’s a drawing that I found in Laura’s things. I am not sure if it’s related. That asshole Harris recognized it though.”

Jackson looked at the image as it went past him and he said, “Allison was wearing a necklace with that design on it. I saw her wearing it last night before Scott leaped on the car.”

Stiles whined at Peter, “Why did you have to bite him. There are hundreds of people in Beacon Hills, anyone else would have been a much better werewolf.”

Peter scowled, “He was the first person I came across and I needed a pack to help me heal.”

Stiles scoffed, “Is he actually helping though?”

Derek muttered, “I doubt it,” When they all looked at him he explained, “Scott is fighting the pack bond which will be worse for Uncle Peter. At least worse for his mental state.” 

Peter muttered petulantly, “It’s not like I can get out of here to bite more people. I can barely muster the energy to avenge the deaths of my family.”

Stiles waved his finger toward Peter, “That stops now. Killing them just creates trouble and they deserve a worse fate than death.”

Peter sneered as he asked, “What would you suggest then, Mischief. Kate deserves to die for what she did to my family.”

Stiles shrugged with an air of nonchalance as he suggested, “Why make it fast, life in jail with no chance of parole sounds like a far better option to me. For her and her co-conspirators.”

Jackson asked, “What about the animal attacks on those already dead?”

Stiles gave Jackson an evil grin as he said, “Danny is already working on ‘finding’ evidence that makes it look like Kate was planning their deaths.”

Peter asked quietly as he read through the evidence, “Can he help prove a nurse is poisoning me?”

Derek asked, “That’s why you aren’t healing?”

Peter shrugged, he was still reading through the file and he said absently, “I have eliminated everything else. I thought the alpha power would be enough to cure me, it's given me back my lucidity but that’s about it. It’s why I killed the first alpha I came across in the preserve.” He snarled, “They shouldn’t have been in Hale territory.”

Derek looked at him in horror. 

Stiles asked, “Do you not know who you killed Peter?”

Peter looked up and he looked at the horrified look on Derek’s face and he paled as he said, “Fuck. It was Laura wasn’t it?”

Derek nodded morosely.

Peter said, “I didn’t recognize her. Well, my wolf didn’t.”

Stiles inspected Peter, taking note of the extensive burn scars on the side of his face and he asked, “Is the poison why the burns aren’t healing? Everything I have read said that alphas should heal from even mortal injuries.”

Peter nodded, “I think so, I just can’t figure out how. I have even tried pulling out my drip and the wolfsbane is still in my system.”

Stiles pondered, “I wonder if Danny can hack into the hospital camera feeds.”

Jackson confirmed, “I have been texting him, he is downloading the last few weeks footage from this ward to go through to see if anything comes up. He also wants the details for your cloud drive so he can add to it.”

Stiles pulled out his phone and he sent access invites for his cloud server to Derek, Jackson, and Danny. He turned to Peter and he said, “I will send you an access code once we get you internet access again. Now, what can we do to help you with stability?”

Peter considered Stiles and he eventually said, “I need more betas. I only have one established pack bond, the only one I have had since the fire that is not fighting me. The bite-that-I-regret won’t ever accept a pack bond with me.”

Jackson sniggered and he said, “Not a great loss. Can we call him that to his face?”

Stiles glared at Jackson until Jackson held his hands up in surrender still sniggering. He turned to Peter and he asked, “So you have a pack bond with Derek?”

Derek and Peter both shook their heads, Derek explained, “No, Laura made sure I was the only bond she had. She kept me pretty isolated. She didn’t even take any betas while we lived in New York. I was allowed to attend high school but only because not attending would have brought child services down on us. She barely had custody due to her police record. I’m not sure why, but my pack bond with Laura didn’t transfer to Uncle Peter.”

Jackson breathed, “She did survive.”

Derek turned to Jackson his eyes glowing and he demanded, “Who?”

Peter said, “I think it’s Cora, it feels like her, but she’s not in Beacon Hills.”

“I have feelers out looking for her,” Stiles explained. “I got suspicious when I saw the fire report listed her as missing not dead.”

Derek let out a whine deep in his throat, “I didn’t know. Fucking Laura, She left her behind. I didn’t know, Laura didn't tell me she survived.”

Peter pat the bed beside him and he said, “Get up here, Pup.”

Derek scrambled up and looking like the young terrified kid he was, he snuggled into his uncle’s side for comfort. He whispered, “I don’t blame you. If Laura snapped your pack bond it means you wouldn’t have recognized her if your wolf was in control.”

Peter shrugged and he murmured, “If I could do it again and I had found out she was keeping you isolated I would have challenged her the formal way. Isolation is not healthy for a wolf. Did she at least let you go to college?”

Derek shook his head, “No, I even earned a full ride to Columbia but she refused to allow me to attend.”

Stiles muttered to Jackson, “It’s worse than what we heard from Alpha Ito. Fucking hell.”

Peter asked surprised, “You met Satomi?”

Stiles nodded, “She met with us earlier with Brett Talbot from the Talbot pack. They were targeted by Kate last year. Brett is going to help us nail Kate using the human legal system.”

“I can help with that,” Peter offered, “I was an assistant DA in Santa Cruz when the fire happened. I had been working late on a case and I arrived home that night to find the house fully ablaze. I got the burns trying to get in to get the kids out of the basement through the window. The house was ringed with mountain ash which I couldn’t get through no matter how hard I tried.”

Jackson commented, “You were lucky you weren’t shot. A few of the fires had shooting victims outside the houses. Unsurprisingly the fires were still marked as accidental and the shooting victims were treated as separate unsolved crimes.”

Stiles asked, “Danny’s having fun isn’t he?”

Jackson grinned, “Oh yes. He has found evidence of her being in town for another six of the names we listed. So that’s what, eleven fires we can pin on her plus the bribes paid out in several cases.”

Peter gave Stiles and then Jackson considering looks before he asked, “Do you want the bite?”

Stiles looked shocked as he asked, “What?”

Peter sighed and he said, “Do you want the bite? If it doesn't kill you, and it could, you'll become like us.”

Jackson snorted as Stiles dumbly asked, “Like you?”

Peter sighed impatiently, “Yes, a werewolf. Would you like me to draw you a picture?”

Jackson snorted louder and Derek poked Peter in the side and he muttered, “Be nice, Uncle Peter.”

Stiles glared at Peter and so Peter explained, “That first night in the woods, I took Scott because I needed a new pack. It could've easily been you. You'd be every bit as powerful as him. No more standing by his side, watching him become stronger, and quicker, more popular, watching him get the girl... You'd be equals. Maybe more.”

Jackson muttered under his breath in a sing-song tone, “That’s not going to work.”

Stiles laughed, “Yes, because I want to be just like Scott, an ignorant slave to his fucking dick. I am more than his equal now as I am.” He moved to sit by Jackson in the seat that Derek had vacated and he saw the calculating expression on Peter’s face so he demanded, “What will you get out of it?”

“Sanity,” Peter stated. “I have been awake for the last six years in a living nightmare of hearing my family burn to death. My sanity is currently not reliable, although the alpha power has certainly made things a lot easier. Betas will help me heal faster, which is why I bit he-who-should-not-be-a-wolf.”

Jackson asked nervously, “I’ve heard the bite can kill?”

Derek said quietly, “Yes, my first girlfriend, Paige, died of bite rejection. She was bitten by a rogue alpha while we were hanging out in the preserve. It’s painful, but you usually know pretty quick if you are going to reject the bite.”

Peter added, “Bite rejection is rare and often occurs due to an underlying cause like illness.”

Jackson nudged Stiles and he murmured, “We should. Even the playing field a bit.”

Stiles shook his head, “No, if you do this we don’t change outwardly. I will stick to being a bench warmer, you stay captain, but we both fly under the radar. The hunters can’t suspect anything or they will target us and use us and our families to get to the Hales.”

Jackson smirked, “Scott can be the hunter bait since he thinks the Argents are all sunshine and rainbows.”

Stiles murmured, “If you do this you have to come with me to the classes I take in Oakdale for self-defense.”

Jackson asked, “You are that worried about what the Argents will do?”

Stiles nodded, “Kate didn’t care that there were kids and humans in the houses she burned. They are obviously traitors to humanity or some shit like that. I know I have inappropriate reactions to situations I should fear but you don’t and I want to make sure you can take care of yourself.”

Peter cleared his throat and he suggested, “You should find a way to get Noah alone and give him this evidence. Make sure what you have is solid and verifiable. If he is the same man I knew in high school he is honorable and will be helpful in connecting all the dots.”

Stiles asked incredulously, “Noah. Do you mean my dad? Observant as fuck Sheriff, who doesn’t let things go?”

“Yes, I’ve worked with him in the past and he’s good at seeing details that others miss.” Peter explained, “He’ll know how to present the case to the various agencies so people sit up and pay attention. How open was Satomi to helping you?”

Stiles said, “She didn’t say it outright but she seemed very open to helping us nail Kate.”

“Ok, I’ll reach out to her once I am out of here, she’s a good ally to the pack. I’ll also need to reach out to Deucalion at some point, he’s a local alpha who at the time of the fire served on the alpha council.

Derek, you’ll need to contact Ralph Vilkas. He should still have an office in town, he’s my lawyer and he should be able to arrange my release if you explain the situation. He’ll make it look like I was sent to a private facility out of the country.”

Stiles sat considering all the options in front of them, he suggested, “The house next to ours is available for rent. Maybe your lawyer can arrange to rent it under the law firm's name, it would be a good place to hide out. Everyone knows our place is the sheriff’s house so they tend to leave it alone.”

Peter nodded and he asked Derek, “Can you talk to Ralph about it?”

Derek nodded and he made a note on his phone.

Stiles asked Jackson, “If you take the bite now are your parents going to notice if you aren’t at home?”

Jackson barked out a sarcastic laugh, “I am never home now. I spend my nights either at Lydia’s house or Danny’s place, I have been since I was able to drive. They make sure to keep my credit card loaded and text me with a date and time when I am needed for parties or business dinners. They just hosted a dinner last week so I should be good for a few weeks at least. I’ll spend tonight at home as they’ll notice if I leave again, but I’ll pack for a few weeks away.”

Stiles murmured, “Right. What about Lydia?”

Jackson snorted, ”She’ll just assume I am staying with Danny since I canceled tonight’s date with no notice. Won’t your dad notice me staying though?”

Stiles shook his head, “Nope, he trusts me to take care of myself. He tends to sleep at the station when they have big cases and I take him meals and uniform changes.”

Derek had his phone out and he was taking notes. He asked, “What do we do about Scott? He is putting the secrecy at risk, last night he was wolfed out in public on top of the Porsche because Jackson was talking to Allison.”

Peter tapped out a rhythm on the notes he was reading as he weighed up his options. He suggested, “We’ll do nothing for now. I have an idea, but I want to check the lay of the land before we go down the road I am thinking of.”

Jackson agreed, “I like that idea. In all honesty, if he’s not at school he’s hanging around the Argent house like an eager puppy.”

Stiles checked his watch and he said, “You need to do the bite soon if Jackson is still keen. We both have school tomorrow so we should probably get out of here.”

Peter beckoned them both to stand beside the bed, and he asked, “I want to be sure that you both absolutely want this. Mischief I know you will have researched the hell out of werewolves and then some but Jackson, what about you?”

Jackson confirmed, “I am definitely in, I have seen what the hunters are capable of but we have a Stiles. That will always give us the advantage.”

Peter chuckled and he explained, “I'll bite your side. Because you are accepting the bite willingly it should heal fast and you will notice the changes over the weekend, hopefully, I’ll be out of here by then so I can help Derek with training you both in how to control your wolves.”

Jackson lifted his shirt and Peter leaned in to give him the turning bite. He was proud that Jackson didn’t make a sound. 

Peter asked, “Mischief? Don’t think I haven’t noticed you evading the mentions of the bite.”

Stiles smirked, “You can’t turn me, Creeperwolf.” He let his eyes glow a bright emerald green, “But I will be your beta.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I write for fun and escapism. Thanks for reading my fic I hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr: [HarleyJQuinWrites.tumblr.com](https://harleyjquinwrites.tumblr.com/)
> 
> I can confirm 100% the fic is finished, 32 chapters. I hope that news makes up for the cliffy. See y'all next week.


	4. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**   
**February 22nd, 2011**

The three men in the room stared at Stiles as he let the glow die from his eyes.

Peter breathed, “What are you?”

Stiles took a deep breath and he said, “What I am about to tell you can’t leave this room. Our family was hunted to near extinction, which is why Mom fled Europe.”

All three nodded in agreement. Peter promised, “I can lock it down as a pack secret once the pack bond is in place if that helps.”

Stiles pulled Jackson in for a half hug when he sat down beside him, “That does help. Thank you, Alpha.” 

He reached up to the amulet he always wore around his neck hidden under his layers of flannel and graphic tees and he said, “Jackson you probably won’t notice a difference yet, Peter, Derek, I’m sorry but this will probably be disconcerting until you get used to it.”

He took his amulet off and he passed it to Jackson to hold. The reactions were instant, both of the Hales shifted into their beta shifts and tried to move back away from the smell of smoke, fire, and threat until they brought themselves back under control.

Derek moved to protect his uncle as he demanded, “What the hell are you?”

Stiles shifted into his beta form complete with horns coming out of his forehead and a mohawk of sharp and nasty spikes poking out of his hair, he tilted his head to let Jackson feel the scales that ran from his neck and up the side of his face. The scales were a deep matte black with a blue iridescent tint in the right light.

Derek walked closer and he held up his claws to compare with Stiles talons. He said, “Damn, those look vicious.”

Stiles grinned and they could see a mouth full of sharp fangs, similar to those of the werewolf. His talons were more like the talons that you would find on a large eagle, each was just over 2 inches long and wicked sharp and he was able to use them with great efficiency when bringing down prey.

Peter was still reluctant to get close, so from the bed, he asked, “Dragon?”

Stiles nodded, “Shadow Dragon if you want the exact type. My mother's family were from Poland, she was a rare human born into a flight of dragons. She came home from an overnight field trip through her school and found that her entire family had been slaughtered by hunters. A family friend helped her disappear so she wasn’t targeted.”

Jackson asked, “What about your ADHD? Wouldn’t being a shifter fix that like it did with Scott’s asthma?”

Stiles grinned at him and Jackson remembered that Stiles is a born shifter so he asked, “It’s a mask?”

Stiles nodded as he explained, “I was a bit clumsy as a kid and I took a while to come to grips with my dragon side. Basically, the dragon version of puberty was a bitch, and the ADHD was a good cover for both a way to hide what I am and a way to cover all the absences I needed. I had days where the talons wouldn’t go away and others where my eyes flickered like damn strobe lights. I was lucky no one caught on. Plus, what hunter will believe that a hyperactive spaz is a shifter.”

Peter asked, “How old were you when you came into your shifter nature? For wolves, it’s usually when they’re around eight or nine years old.”

Jackson and Stiles both answered, “Seven.”

Stiles chuckled and he said, “I had about a year before mom got sick for her to teach me what I needed to know about control, magic, and shifting.”

Derek was curious so he asked, “Shifting? You can shift into a dragon?”

Stiles nodded, “We have a full shift form. I think mine is still growing but the last time dad measured me I was twelve-foot tall at the shoulders.”

Jackson asked, “Does your dad know about werewolves too?”

Stiles said, “Only that they exist, not the Hales.” He was about to explain more but he snapped his head around when he heard Peter confidently state, “Actually, he does know about us.”

Stiles glared at Peter and he ground out, “Explain. Now.”

Peter grinned with his fangs showing as he said, “Noah was introduced to the pack and the secret of the supernatural when he was elected as Sheriff.”

Stiles asked, “I wonder if he mentioned me being a shifter?”

Peter shrugged, “Not to my knowledge, you would have to ask him if he told Talia though. Just don’t ask me to play poker with him.”

Stiles laughed, “He has a great poker face, he has to as a cop, how else will he get perps to spill all their secrets.”

Peter groused, “He smelled surprised, Stiles.”

Stiles raised an eyebrow and he said, “He’s had time to practice keeping secrets from me.”

Derek asked, “So you have enhanced smell? What else?”

Peter interrupted, “We can go through that later nephew. We should get your pack bites done. Stiles will the pack bite work for you?”

Stiles nodded, “It should, my great uncle was bitten into a wolf pack. He didn’t turn, obviously, but he did mention pack bonds in his journals.”

Once Peter was done biting Derek back into the Hale Pack, Stiles approached the hospital bed with his many layers lifted so Peter could access his side. Peter leaned in and bit down hard on his side, hard enough to draw blood. As the group watched the wound healed almost instantly, Stiles gasped as he felt the pack bond slide into place.

They could all feel his elation at being part of the pack. Jackson handed over his amulet when he noticed the Hales both still looked disconcerted at the subtle smell of fire coming from Stiles. 

Stiles had an idea and he asked, “Peter, do you mind if we take a blood sample before we go, your lawyer should be able to get it tested as part of your case for getting out of here.”

Peter nodded and so Stiles sent Derek out to find the blood draw equipment. Peter asked, “You know how to draw blood?”

“Mom was here for several months after she was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia.” Stiles explained, “I watched the nurses take blood several times a week for various tests.” 

Derek slipped back into the room and he said, “We need to hurry, the nurses are preparing for rounds. I’ll talk to Ralph about an emergency order, I could smell wolfsbane but I couldn’t follow it to the source without getting caught.”

Stiles quickly drew several vials of blood and he placed them in a borrowed coolbox, while Derek dressed Jackson’s bite mark and Peter gave him the name for a lab technician he trusted. Stiles promised they would drop the samples off under Peter’s name on the way to school.

They all scent marked Peter as they left the hospital room. Derek took all the evidence with them so he could pass it on to Peter’s lawyer in the morning.

-x-

Stiles made sure he was up early the next morning so he could get a breakfast put together for his dad and Derek. Derek stumbled down the stairs when he smelled the bacon cooking and he asked, "Are you heading out?"

Stiles nodded, “Yeah, going to the station to drop off breakfast and a change of clothes for dad before school. We are going to talk to him after school to give our statements about what really happened at the school the night Peter attacked you, I want to see if we can get your name cleared so you don't have to hide out inside. Jackson's agreed to come with me to back up my statement and to refute what the girls stated.”

Derek sighed, “I’ll be here getting in touch with Peter's lawyer to get the ball rolling. I might reach out to Alpha Satomi too.”

“Will you be ok here on your own all day?” Stiles asked, he felt bad about leaving Derek locked up in the house all day.

Derek smiled, “I have a few books I want to read, I’ll be fine, Stiles.”

Stiles pulled Satomi’s business card out of his wallet and he said quietly, "If you wanted to hide out with her pack that would be fine. I know it can't be easy being here."

Derek pulled Stiles into a hug and he said, "No, you're pack, you and Jackson both. I feel more settled now than I have since we left Beacon Hills, which is saying something. What are you going to tell the Sheriff about the animal attacks?"

Stiles shrugged, "I don't know. He knows about pack vengeance to a point, he even offered to help mom deal with the hunters that killed her flight, but I don't think this is all on Peter. Being stuck in his own head left him mostly feral and driven by his wolf and Dad will understand that."

Derek asked, "Are you going to contact the Argents?"

Stiles shook his head, "No. I think we all need to stay as far away from that bag of crazy as possible Dad’ll agree once we read him in on the case as a whole.”

"What about Allison? She seems ok,” Derek asked quietly.

Stiles shook his head, "I don't trust her. She has Scott whispering in her ear and he's quite happy to throw us all under the bus if it keeps him out of trouble."

Stiles had everything ready in a duffle when he heard Jackson honk from the driveway and he called out, "Stay out of trouble, Sourwolf. We’ll be back later for training."

He jumped in the Porsche with Jackson, he saw how angry he looked and he asked, "You ok?"

Jackson shook his head, "She won't stop texting and calling, you'd think I broke up with her rather than just canceled a date. We'll need to visit the mall at some point today for a new phone. I got frustrated and crushed mine."

Stiles nodded, “We can hit the mall after we give our statements, it’s open pretty late tonight. Hopefully, Dad listens to us over what Scott told him, and he gets Tara to take our statements. She’s good at getting them done quickly without screwing it up for the DA.”

Jackson suggested, "Maybe if you tell him that Scott was bitten and he's blaming you and forcing you to keep it a secret from both of your parents."

Stiles grinned, "Not a stupid idea. Scott has no idea about me and he doesn't know dad is aware of the supernatural. How’s your wolf? Did you have any issues last night aside from crushing your phone?"

Jackson shrugged, "My hearing is so much better, now I get David's snoring at 10 times the volume than before. No other senses though, I don't have the claws or eyes yet either."

"We are going to do some training after we are done with Daddio so we can try some things to bring out your wolf." Stiles offered. "Did you pack a bag last night?"

Jackson snorted, "No. I packed a suitcase like a proper person. It's in the trunk."

"Pretentious git!" Stiles said with a grin.

"So, how long do you think it will take McFail to notice we are friends, let alone pack?" Jackson snarked. 

Stiles shrugged as he got out at the sheriff's station. He murmured into the open door, "Honestly, I doubt he will. He hasn't noticed much since he was bitten. Give me a few to drop these off.”

He ran inside with the bag which had a healthy breakfast and lunch for his dad, as well as a fresh change of uniform. He arranged for his dad to be available for him after school so he could discuss what happened at the school. He had been using everything in his arsenal to evade making a statement so far.

He jumped back in the Porsche and he asked, “What’s the plan for school. I would prefer to stick close to you in case you need help but that’s entirely up to you.”

Jackson agreed, “I need to talk to Lydia, I would like you close for that. If anything is going to make me lose control it will be her.”

Stiles suggested, “What if I hang back and chat with Danny. I want to set up a crime board tonight in one of the spare rooms so we can start connecting the dots and I think he will be able to help us in connecting some of those far-flung dots.”

Jackson agreed, “He’s keen to start looking for Cora so he’ll want to help.”

Stiles asked quietly, “What do you want me to say if anyone asks why I am hanging with you?”

Jackson shrugged, “Honestly, I don’t care. The only person whose opinion I care about is Danny and he’s cool with you. Anyone else, well, feel free to send them my way if they have questions.”

Stiles nodded, “Lydia will pitch a fit about you ignoring her, want to place a wager on how long it takes her to find you in the halls?”

Jackson smirked, “Suckers bet, we both know she will be waiting just inside the main doors so she doesn’t miss me.”

“We could always slip in through the locker room?” Stiles suggested slyly, “Make it difficult for her to find you, less of a crowd.”

Jackson grinned and he agreed, he parked in his usual spot and followed Stiles as they made their way to the field beside the school.

Jackson flicked a text to Danny to let him know their plan and he met them in the locker room. He crowed, “Lydia is pissed. She’s telling everyone you canceled your date last night because you’re cheating on her.”

Stiles grinned, “Confront her when Scotty is around. He can’t make up lies on the spot worth a damn and the whole school knows his tells.”

“You guys promise you’ll wait by Stiles’ locker for me?” Jackson asked quietly. “I don’t want to lose control.”

Danny nodded, “Yeah, I can update him on what I found when I logged in this morning.”

Jackson led them through the school to Stiles’ locker and he left his friends to deal with the angry redhead waiting with Allison and Scott at his locker.

She stood there tapping her foot with her arms crossed and she demanded, “Was she worth it?”

Jackson put on a bored tone as he asked, “Who?”

She moved her hands to her hips as she snarked, “The floozy you blew me off for last night.”

Jackson blinked, “You think I blew you off to cheat on you?” He could hear the hallway go deathly silent at his tone of incredulity. “The only cheaters in this scenario are you and McCall.” She paled so he rubbed it in further, “Yes, I know all about your little tryst in Coach’s office. You do know your lipstick was all over his face? It was quite obvious to the entire team that you and he hooked up. As for last night, I blew you off because I was sick of you pulling this shit time and time again and I finally realized you’re never going to change.”

He walked away but before he reached Danny and Stiles he turned back around, “Don’t talk to me, don’t contact me, oh and don’t bother contacting my parents. I really don’t care anymore what you or they think, the threats of disownment for not following orders are just that, threats. We’re over, Lydia.”

She screamed and stalked off down the hallways looking like thunder as she went toward her locker to get her books. 

Danny and Stiles pulled Jackson into a hug before they walked away from Scott’s pleading for Allison to stay with him. The two enhanced teens could hear him pleading with her to stay and they both cringed when he muttered that they were on a break when it happened.

Scott had completely ignored the fact that Stiles was watching the confrontation, Stiles knew Scott had seen him but the beta didn’t even wave hello at his supposed best friend. As per fucking usual Scott was his best friend only when it was convenient for him, when he didn’t have a shiny new toy to play with.

The trio had their first class together, chemistry with Mr. Harris, so they walked to the back of the class and took the back row for themselves.

Lydia tried to take the empty seat beside Danny but one of the other members of the lacrosse team took the seat to prevent her from getting close to Jackson. Danny whispered a quiet thanks to Isaac Lahey as he sat down.

By the time they sat down for lunch, the whole school was gossiping about the break-up. Stiles was giggling to himself as he overheard some of the theories.

Jackson scowled, “What?”

“Just some of the theories around your breakup,” Stiles sniggered, “It’s like a giant game of Chinese whispers gone wrong. The best one so far is that Lydia had a threesome with Scott and Coach in his office.”

Danny agreed, “I overheard that you ditched her because you were her pimp and she did a freebie for McCall.”

Jackson snorted his drink and started coughing. He gasped, “You bastard, you waited until just the right time for that comment.”

Danny nodded with a grin, “Yep, paybacks a bitch. So what time do you want me at your place, Stiles?”

Stiles shrugged, he was keeping one eye on Scott who was talking quietly with Allison, “We can text you once we are done at the mall so you can meet us at mine.”

Later when Danny was with Jackson in a class without Stiles he whispered, “You need to talk Stiles into a new wardrobe. We both know he only wears the layers to hide the fact he is more solidly built than McCall.” 

Jackson shrugged, he understood that Stiles also used the clothes to hide more than his build, that he used the clothing so people would underestimate him. “I’ll try, but don’t hold your breath.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I write for fun and escapism. Thanks for reading my fic I hope you're enjoying it.
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr: [HarleyJQuinWrites.tumblr.com](https://harleyjquinwrites.tumblr.com/)


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas Eve, I hope everyone enjoys the holiday no matter how they celebrate it!

**February 23rd, 2011**

Stiles met Jackson after his last class and they waved goodbye to Danny as they got in the Porsche, it was a short and quiet ride to the station with both contemplating the events at school. 

As they walked toward’s the Sheriff’s office Jackson asked, “Are you going to tell him about his bite?”

Noah looked up as they walked in and he demanded, "Who was bitten?"

Stiles closed and locked the door so his dad's deputies would know Noah was unavailable and he said, "Scott was bitten by a feral alpha that night you caught me in the preserve before school started."

Noah facepalmed and he grit out, "For fucks sake, Stiles. What were you even doing out there with him."

Stiles took his time getting settled in beside Jackson on the couch and he said, "He was on Skype when you got the call. He wanted to go out to look for the body for something to do I guess. I tried to turn him down telling him I was still doing homework, but he said if I didn't go with him he would go on his own."

Noah snarked, "Which forced you to go, in case he had an asthma attack in the preserve."

Jackson snorted, "Even your dad can see how lopsided that friendship is."

Stiles shrugged, "Well, as expected as soon as he got a girlfriend he ditched me so now we just have an omega wolf to deal with who's sleeping with the daughter of the local werewolf hunters. Romeo and fucking Juliet."

"Language, Stiles." Noah snapped. He waved his hand between Stiles and Jackson and he said, "I thought you two hated each other."

Jackson blushed and he explained, "I hated him for choosing Scott over me when Scott forced him to choose."

Noah looked between them and he raised an eyebrow, "And now?"

"We're pack," Stiles announced with a grin. "I joined the Hale Pack last night with Jackson and Derek."

Noah raised both eyebrows and he said, "Currently wanted fugitive, Derek Hale?"

Stiles laughed, "Currently falsely accused werewolf, Derek Hale. Scott threw him under the bus for the death of the janitor at the school that night to cover his own wolfy ass."

Noah put his pen down and with a narrowed glare at Stiles he held his hand up and he said, "Start from the beginning kiddo."

Stiles and Jackson together explained the night at the school, how the alpha attacked Derek outside the school before Scott forced Stiles to abandon him, when they thought he had been killed, and dragged him into the school. Jackson went through the text message Allison received from Scott, which they found out later wasn’t actually from Scott. Jackson went through how he and the girls arrived after the janitor had been killed. They briefly explained that they thought the alpha was attacking those involved with the Hale fire but they kept the details light.

"Are you both willing to make a statement about what you saw at the school?" Noah asked, "I can call Tara in to take your statements, she knows how to keep the supernatural out of case reports."

They both nodded so Noah unlocked the door and he called Tara into the office. He explained why the boys were there and that she needed to take a statement about the events at the school the night the Janitor was killed. She took them one at a time to the interview room to get complete statements. Stiles was careful to say that Derek had been knocked out by whoever was chasing them and he didn't get a clear look at them.

When Stiles was busy in the interview room Noah asked, "What else has Scott done since he was bitten? Stiles sounds more resigned than usual about Scott's actions."

Jackson looked down as he didn't want to drop Stiles in it but he said, "He's basically dropped Stiles for the first available piece of ass to drop in his lap. He's ignored all Stiles' warnings about her family wanting him deader than a dead thing. From what Stiles said last night Scott is completely ignoring his warnings about Allison’s family all being hunters.”

Noah nodded, "He has a plan to deal with Scott?”

Jackson admitted, “Not really. He’s just been ignoring him for now.”

Tara brought Stiles back to the room and left with Jackson. He had heard most of Stiles' interview so he knew what to say to keep their story straight so Kate could be nailed for the attack later.

Noah asked, "What are you planning to do with Scott and his closeness with the Argents?”

Stiles shrugged and he innocently said, "Me, nothing. But we have been looking into something bigger. I think Kate Argent used Derek to get close to the Hales before she set the house on fire. And I don’t think it was the first pack she’s attacked this way.”

Noah did the math in his head and he gasped, "Derek would've only just turned fourteen at the time of the fire. He remembered hearing about Derek’s birthday party held on Christmas Day the month before the fire. And you think she's done this with other packs?"

Stiles nodded, “We have spoken to a beta from another pack who was able to identify Kate Argent as the one responsible for his pack being attacked. I want to take you through the investigation at some point but it’ll take a few hours.”

"Is Derek willing to make a statement about what she did?" Noah asked quietly.

Stiles shook his head, "Not yet. He nearly had a panic attack when he figured out I knew what she had done. Laura kept him isolated in New York, he was only allowed to leave the apartment they rented to go to school and that was purely to keep child services off her back. She didn't get him any help and she refused to let him attend college even though he earned a full scholarship. Although he didn't entirely tell the truth with that one."

Noah tilted his head and he asked, "How so?"

"He mentioned she refused to allow him to attend Columbia," Stiles clarified, "Not that he didn't attend and his heart blipped. So I wonder if they let him take papers remotely."

Noah shrugged, "It's not unheard of, we can ask him once he's cleared of the janitor's death. Did you know the janitor had a sealed juvenile record, for arson?"

Stiles shook his head, "I didn't, he was the only one I couldn't figure out."

Noah agreed and he said, "You should probably add Gerard Argent to your investigation. He leads the family and he is known for his belief that there is no such thing as an innocent wolf. There is history between Gerard and the Hales, I just can’t remember what happened as it was before I was brought in on the secret.”

Jackson entered the office and slumped down next to Stiles, he murmured, "Scott threw him under the bus. It's going to be our word against Scott, Lydia, and Allison. Tara said all three came in and made statements the day after the attack saying they saw Derek attack the janitor.”

Noah asked, “Why didn’t they get you to make the same statement?”

Jackson grimaced, “Because if I got caught lying on an official statement, David would cut me off. Lydia would’ve done anything to ensure I didn’t get disowned before I broke up with her this morning.”

Stiles grinned malevolently, "Why not get all three back in here to describe exactly how the Janitor was killed since they claim they saw it. I was the only one to see what happened, Scotty was already running away from the alpha and the girls weren't there yet so it’s unlikely what they will say will match the autopsy.”

Jackson pondered, "Isn't there a camera that would have caught the alpha attacking Derek out the front of the school?"

Noah promised, "I'll look into it. Get Derek to call Ralph Vilkas and see if he will take on Derek as a client, he’s Peter Hale’s lawyer and he’ll likely be willing since Peter has always had a soft spot for his nephew. He can then request a copy of the statements so he can poke holes in them. If you let him know about the possible cameras he can request we pull copies of the footage. For now, go home and get Jackson trained for the full moon."

The boys stopped at the mall on the way home so Jackson could pick up a new phone and Stiles found he was the recipient of a new wardrobe by force and illegal use of puppy dog eyes.

Jackson quietly asked, "You use plaid and layers to hide. I know we need to stay under the radar of certain hunters but slowly migrating to a wardrobe that actually fits won't hurt."

Stiles shrugged, he knew part of it was staying under the radar but the other part, the more insecure part was his low self-image which Jackson could see in the expressions that flickered on his face.

Jackson pulled Stiles into one of his favorite stores and he asked, "Can you just try some of my suggestions? What can it hurt?"

"I'll look like an idiot playing dress up," Stiles muttered darkly.

Jackson shook his head, "No, you will look hot. Trust me, Stiles. Please.”

Stiles nodded mutely, and he followed Jackson around the store as he started picking up seemingly random items of clothing and holding them up to Stiles.

"Make sure I can still move in whatever you choose." Stiles requested.

Jackson asked, "Move how? I mean I won't dress you in something that's too tight to walk in or impossible to button up."

Stiles smirked, "Martial arts, Jackson. I need to be comfortable enough to fight in anything I wear."

Jackson narrowed his eyes, "I thought you just did self-defense."

"Masks," Stiles said in a sing-song voice, "I do kickboxing, jiu-jitsu, and eskrima. I have a black belt in jiu-jitsu and I have been learning eskrima for a few years now.”

Jackson pulled a few pairs of jeans from the pile in Stiles' arms and he said, "Right, not so tight with the skinny jeans then. Are you planning on teaching me?"

Stiles nodded, "I can take you through a few of my workouts so you can get more of an idea on what my wardrobe will need in regards to movement. I do want to grab us both leather jackets while we’re here though."

Jackson asked, "Why?"

While they were in the dressing room area Stiles flicked out his talons out of sight of everyone but Jackson and he explained, "Leather is good protection from claws, talons and even teeth. Leather's also durable enough to hold protection wards."

Jackson smirked, "I know the perfect place, it's at the end of the mall. We can go there once we are done here.”

"Sounds good," Stiles agreed, "Right, what do you want me to try on first?"

Jackson spent the next hour treating Stiles like his personal Ken doll and they found several outfits that Stiles liked. They looked good on him without showing off just how well built he was under the layers. The best part was the styles that Jackson chose weren't too far from what he wore most of the time, just less baggy and fewer layers.

After they dropped the bags off at the Porsche, Jackson led them through the mall to the high-end shop that he knew sold good quality leather products. He had the perfect coat in mind for Stiles since as far as most were concerned he was just a human in a supernatural town.

Stiles took one look at the red hooded trench coat that Jackson held up and he scowled, "No. Just no!"

Jackson grinned, "You know it's perfect, it cements the human image, it has a fleece-lined hood, and look at all the pockets! At least try it on, please!"

Stiles grudgingly agreed and he took the jacket to one of the changing rooms to try on. It was a deep red knee-length double-breasted trench coat, it had subtle black accents to break up the red. The leather was soft and flexible but a small test with his talons showed it to be quite resilient to scratches. He was hopeful it would be able to stand up to some of the fancier rune work he had learned from his family's grimoires.

He walked out of the dressing room and did a few test kicks and spins and he found it was flexible enough to fight in. He turned when he heard Jackson approach, and saw him wearing the same jacket in a deep forest green color. 

He raised an eyebrow and Jackson shrugged nonchalantly, "It's comfortable."

The hood was a gothic style hood and he suggested to Jackson, I think if I spell it right, we should be able to use the hoods to hide our faces when they are up. I think it would be worth grabbing a few to experiment on."

Stiles walked up to the counter with the four coats in his arms. The red and green coats that they tried on and two plain black coats in their size for rune experiments. Jackson had also suggested some leather trousers for experiments as they could be good in a fight and Stiles grabbed a few pairs in each size. 

The young man at the counter looked down his nose at Stiles and he gave him a judgemental look as if to ask, 'Why are you wasting my time.' Stiles didn't really care what he thought, so he stepped back when Jackson snapped his fingers to get the sales assistant’s attention.

“I’m just curious, do you look down on all of your customers or just the ones that don’t meet your exacting standards, how about me, will you serve me without looking at me like I’m dirt at the bottom of your shoe or should I just take our money elsewhere?” Jackson questioned silkily. Having the Whittemore name meant he refused to accept someone looking down their nose at him, or those with him, while he shopped.

The manager, Dixie, according to her name tag approached and she asked, “Is there a problem?”

Jackson snarked, "Well, it would be nice to shop without your shop assistant judging us by what we’re wearing, especially when we’re clearly about to drop several thousand on clothing."

"I apologize, he will be spoken too," Dixie assured, "Would you like me to ring these up?"

Stiles nodded to the manager so she started to ring everything up. He saw that Jackson was about to pull his wallet out while they waited for the store manager to finish totaling everything, so he put his hand out to stop him. "No, it's fine, I’ll get them."

"How?" Jackson asked with a raised eyebrow, "I mean your Jeep looks like it's ready to be junked on a good day, and most of your clothes look like they come from Sears.”

Stiles chuckled, “Masks. I keep Roscoe because she was my mom's, if you look under the hood beyond the superficial tape and zip ties you will find she's been fully rebuilt. While my clothes look cheap, they aren’t.”

Stiles nodded and he pulled out his wallet and to Jackson’s shock he handed over a platinum credit card.   
  
She rang them up and handed over her business card when she handed Stiles his credit card, "We do custom orders should you require something we don't have on the shelf. Feel free to contact me personally to arrange your next visit so you don’t have the same issues next time.”

Stiles nodded his thanks as they picked up the specialty garment bags to carry out to the Porsche to join the clothing purchases already in the trunk.

Jackson asked, "Do you think Derek will want one of the trench coats?"

Stiles shook his head, "I think he likes his current jacket. Going by the loose fit I think it belonged to one of his pack. I know the Camaro was his dad's."

"We can always offer." Jackson suggested as they were driving home, "Now, are you going to explain the platinum card?"

Stiles snarked, "You do remember me saying that mom was the only remaining member of her family? A family of dragons that have been around for centuries."

Jackson said, "The friend who helped her escape helped her take it all with her?"

Stiles nodded, "Not just the money but the extensive library and most of the artifacts they had collected over the years."

They pulled into the Stilinski driveway and Stiles said, "Derek, can you come out and help us bring the results of my torture inside please." He knew Derek would be able to hear him from inside quite easily.

Derek grinned as he walked out the door to the trunk of the Porsche, "Torture, Stiles?"

Stiles whined, "He has the 'puppy dog eyes of doom'. I was suckered."

Danny joined them and grabbed a few of the bags as he snarked, “It can’t have been that bad, he has good taste, and a knack for knowing what will suit a person.”

Derek chuckled, "So, what did you end up buying, I heard Jackson mention needing a new phone before you were both out of range."

With a big sigh, Stiles said, "Someone," He pointedly looked at Jackson, "Thought my wardrobe needed an upgrade. I agreed as long as I can still fight in whatever I ended up with. He was probably just embarrassed to be seen around me in my current wardrobe choices."

Jackson punched Stiles' arm as they walked inside and he said, "That's not it at all, smartass. I just think there is no need for you to hide anymore."

He dropped his bags in the living room with the rest of the pile and he asked, "Derek, how did your calls go this morning, Stiles mentioned you were planning to call Peter's lawyer and Alpha Satomi."

Derek nodded, "Ralph just left actually, he's going to raise hell about me being a suspect in both my sister's murder and the incident at the school. He's also going to contact the lab to get a rush put on the bloodwork. He's hopeful he can get Peter released into the care of a private nurse by the weekend."

"And the house next door?" Stiles asked, as if he didn’t already know what’s going on, "I saw the for rent sign was gone."

Derek nodded, "We should be able to move in tomorrow. Ralph is just making sure everything is signed over correctly since he also represents the owners."

Stiles nodded and he ignored the knowing look he got from Derek. "I am going to take my normal shopping upstairs then I will take you guys down and show you the library and the workshop."  
  
They let him go upstairs with his bags to drop things off in his room. Derek raised an eyebrow and Jackson just shrugged. He knew if he said anything Stiles would be able to hear them.

Stiles thundered down the stairs and he said, "Grab the bags, I want both hands free so I can show you all how to get into the basement." He knew Danny would be joining the pack in some way.

They all grabbed a few of the garment bags and followed him down to the basement.

Danny asked, "What's in the bags?"

"Leather coats and trousers." Jackson answered, "For Stiles to experiment with."

They made their way through the normal basement and into the walk-in closet where the boardgames were stored. Stiles pulled one of the games toward him and they watched as the wall opened up beside him.

Derek chuckled when he saw the batman logo on the box. He raised an eyebrow and he snarked, “The Batcave?”

Stiles laughed and he said, “It helps us remember which box to pull, it’s the same in each house.”

He led them through the door and they entered a large cavern under the house. Jackson narrowed his eyes and he asked, "Just how big is the basement?"

Stiles laughed and he said, "Well, we needed somewhere to hide everything Mom had shipped over from Europe. Let's drop these off in the workshop, then I can give you three a proper tour."

Derek's eyes lit up at the workshop, it looked like it was set up for whatever Stiles and Noah could think of doing, including potions, leatherwork, and even woodwork. He snarked, "I am surprised you don't have a crucible down here."

Stiles pointed at the doors at the end of the room. "It's in a magically insulated forge so the heat doesn't affect the rest of the basement. We don't use it often, I use it mostly for creating amulets for now. Dad has been trying to find someone to train him in creating blades. Anyway, let's go."

He led them from the room and pointed out a few guest rooms and his study on the same corridor. Jackson was excited at the large fully equipped gym and training room that was at the end of one of the hallways. Stiles commented, "If you can think of anything we can add or know of gear that can withstand wolves and, well... me, let me or dad know. We have an entrance from the garage in the vacant house that has an elevator so we can bring large items down."

Danny asked, “You? You’re human, right?”

Stiles shook his head, “Not exactly. But that’s something for later once we have introduced you to Peter. It’s currently locked down as a pack secret.”

Derek said, "Uncle Peter sourced most of what we had in our gym and it coped with most of our pack. He will hopefully remember where he bought it all from. Dad was tough on it but he was built like a tank, he was 6'8" and he could bench press me and Peter at the same time." 

Stiles squeezed his shoulder in support and he said, "Let me show you how to get down here from your place. Your entrance comes out on the other side of the library."

He took them to the library and Derek froze at the door. "Uncle Peter is going to drool. He was in charge of the Hale library and he had a good reputation for finding rare and unusual books."

Stiles ran his finger along the spines as he walked, "I think he bought a few from mom through a broker she used. There were a few invoices in her files for sales to a P. Hale. From the titles they were duplicates she owned, she said the library here was made up of three different vaults hidden in Poland. There are rumors of another but I haven't been able to find any details in the journals."

Jackson looked around and he said, "How many books do you have down here?" He watched Danny disappear into the shelves as he explored the titles. Jackson liked the large study tables that were set up in the center of the library and he thought Stiles must have set the room up for research binges.

Stiles shrugged, "Not entirely sure. There are a few thousand books, but I couldn’t give you an exact figure. I was planning to digitize them at some point. I just need time to research a safe way to do it. Some of these books are several hundred years old."

He led them out the door on the opposite side of the library that led to a small entry room, and he showed Derek how to get access to the basement level from their basement.

Derek assessed the size of the basement and he asked, "Is it the same access point from all four houses?"

Stiles shook his head and he said, "Only these two houses have access for now. The one I mentioned before is vacant and we keep it that way as it's where we receive deliveries through the garage. The other one is locked and warded as it currently has mundane tenants. The basement and the houses are also warded against, fire and water damage, most earthquakes, and there are strong intent wards. Anyone intending to harm the residents can't access the house."

Derek glanced at Danny before he asked, "Is there a room spare that we can magically cool, it would be good to have a server room for storing the digital library and our own cloud servers."

Jackson asked, "You have been attending Columbia haven't you?"

Derek grinned, "Yep, my advisor is a wolf from one of the larger packs in New York. He understood the issues with an overbearing alpha and he arranged for me to do everything remotely for my computer science degree. I spent today catching up on my assignments while you were at school.”

Danny popped out with a book in his hand and he asked, “Is this a good one to start with?”

Stiles held his hand out and he saw it was a primer for werewolves from a human’s point of view. He handed it back and he said, “It is, we have a few copies of that one and I am sure the Hales will too if Peter had his library offsite.”

Derek shrugged, “He maintained the library in the house, which of course was lost with the fire. I never found out if he had one offsite, knowing Peter though, he would have had his rarer books stored somewhere safe.”

Stiles turned to walk across the library and he suggested, “To answer your question, Derek, yes, but I will need to empty one of the storage rooms to make room. Danny why don’t you help Derek figure out what we need for a basic server farm. I can leave Derek my spare credit card so he can order it all tomorrow.”

Jackson asked, “What will we be doing?”

Stiles rubbed his hands together with an evil grin and he said, “Training.”

He dragged Jackson to the training room and took him through some basic self-defense exercises while trying to provoke his wolf. When Derek and Danny came through to check out the training he got Derek to flash his electric blue eyes and there was no reaction from Jackson at all.

Derek shrugged and he admitted, “Sometimes it can take a few days for the turn to go through completely. I wouldn’t stress about it too hard.”

Danny sat down against the wall at the edge of the room with the werewolf primer book and he called out, “Jackson, you should probably read this too.”

Derek watched Jackson settle in beside Danny and he asked Stiles, “Wanna spar?”

Stiles grinned, “Definitely!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I write for fun and escapism. Thanks for reading my fic I hope you’re enjoying it.
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr: [HarleyJQuinWrites.tumblr.com](https://harleyjquinwrites.tumblr.com/)


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out Chapter One, or my Tumblr to see the banner I created for this story.
> 
> Last chapter for 2020, bring on 2021 and hopefully some sanity.

**February 24th, 2011**

After an exhausting sparring match that ended up lasting several hours, Stiles climbed into bed and was out like a light. Jackson and Derek had both taken over guest rooms in the basement, and Danny had left halfway through the sparring match promising to see them at school the next day.

Stiles chuckled when he woke up to find Jackson wrapped around him like an octopus and complaining about the noise of Stiles’ alarm going off.

He nudged Jackson in the side and he whispered, “Come on Jax, you need to get up so we aren’t late for school.

Jackson blinked slowly and he looked around with a look of confusion, “Sorry, I’m not sure how I got here.”

Stiles sat up as Jackson moved and he said, “It’s fine, it’s a pack thing, it’s probably lucky that you ended up with me rather than Derek. I’m not sure he would be up for unexpected cuddles yet. We should get up though, I can smell bacon cooking.”

Derek put plates in front of them as they sat at the table, “I made extra for the sheriff, it’s in a Tupperware container on the bench.”

Stiles grinned and he said, “Thanks Sourwolf. What’s on your plate for today?”

Derek shrugged, “Probably finishing off a few assignments, and ordering the supplies for the server farm.”

Stiles stood and went to his Dad’s office to grab a few things, he came back and handed over a credit card and a piece of paper with an address on it. “Use either UPS or FedEx for shipping. I have an arrangement with both companies where anything sent to the details on that piece of paper will be dropped off in the garage in the vacant house. It gets automatically rerouted at the depot when it’s scanned in.”

Jackson smirked, “Sneaky.”

“Some of the things I order are expensive and the people I buy from aren’t the most trustworthy.” Stiles explained with a shrug, “So I have an arrangement with the siren who lives at the address, if they spy on her she just looks like a crazy cat lady, she’s got like six huge Maine coon cats. If they try to attack her she’s powerful enough to put them on their ass before she calls dad for a pickup.”

Derek pocketed both the card and the address details and he asked, “Anything else you need me to order while I’m at it?”

Stiles held out his hand for the list Derek and Danny had created and he browsed through it before writing additions at the bottom.

Derek took a look and he asked, “Laptops?”

Stiles nodded, “Clean ones that will be kept away from Dad. Danny is already on probation for hacking, I don’t want pack business to get him into more trouble or you for that matter. The internet in the basement is magically secure and encrypted, so it should help keep him off any radars he’s already on. I also want a few more wifi hotspots that can be magically encrypted, there’s one in the library, in the drawers on the side of the main table, if you want to see the brand I prefer.”

Derek nodded and added them to the list. He could smell Jackson was happy with the efforts being made to protect his friend. He sent them off to school with the promise he would be spending the day downstairs in the library.

-x-

Ralph worked fast when he got the blood results, they showed both aconite and digitalis in Peter’s bloodstream, neither of which are healthy for humans let alone a wolf in a coma. With help from the sheriff’s department after he reported the results, Peter was released into Ralph’s care while the boys were at school. He’d hired a private ambulance staffed with shifters who would take him out of town in the ambulance for appearance's sake, once they were sure they weren’t being watched they would drop them off where Ralph had a car waiting.

Meanwhile, at school, it was all drama. Scott was still ignoring Stiles, Allison wasn’t talking to Lydia, Danny refused to speak to Lydia at all for the shit she was attempting to pull again. 

After seeing Lydia getting the cold shoulder when she was attempting to speak to Danny, Jackson said, “This is between me and Lyds, you don’t have to end your friendship with her.”

Danny smiled sadly, “I warned her if she cheated on you again that I wouldn’t forgive her. She’s always treated you like a status symbol and I hate it.”

Jackson pulled Danny into an uncharacteristic hug. “Thanks, Danny,” he whispered into his friend's ear. 

Stiles grinned and he said, “Enough of the hug fest, we have gym, and you know Coach gets cranky if we are late.”

They all took off at a sprint for the locker rooms to get changed, Coach Finstock liked to punish the team with extra suicides if they were late for his classes.

Jackson could feel Stiles' mood falling over the day as Scott was continually ignoring him for Allison and he planned to talk to their alpha about what to do with the wayward beta.

Stiles could see Jackson scowling at an unaware Scott and he muttered, “Leave it, Jax. He has a shiny new toy, something I always expected to happen, just not this soon.” 

-x-

Back at the house, Ralph was busy getting Peter set up in the master bedroom with a bit of help from Derek before he brought in a magic-user they both trusted to assess the wolfsbane damage. Troy was the emissary for Alpha Ito and quite happy to help out a future ally and old friend.

Troy asked, “When did the wolfsbane poisoning start?”

Peter shrugged, “No idea. I’ve been in a coma since the fire, from what little I’ve managed to figure out, over the last six months my wolf has been stronger while the human in me was suppressed and I was able to get out of my hospital room for a few hours on the full moons. At some point, I found a foreign alpha in the preserve and eliminated what my wolf saw as a threat.”

Troy said sadly, “Laura.”

Peter nodded, “My wolf didn’t recognize her when he attacked her. The alpha spark is how I was able to start healing my human side back to lucidity, it’s taken a while though.”

Troy nodded, “It would. Six years in a coma would be hell for anyone let alone a wolf. I am willing to bet your wolf was awake the entire time.”

Peter nodded, “Reliving the fire, mostly. It’s not been fun.”

Derek placed the bowl he was carrying on the bedside table and he said, “I’m sorry, I need to go.”

“Fuck!” Peter exclaimed when he heard Derek leave the house at a run. “I’ll talk to him when he gets back, he’s blaming himself for the fire, even though we all know Kate is entirely at fault.”

“I am looking for a therapist to help those kids targeted by Kate,” Ralph added, “I have been going through the evidence the boys have gathered on the cloud drive and I’m sure there are going to be other survivors out there, going through the same thing.”

Peter nodded and he asked, “So, Troy, how can we get this wolfsbane out of my system?”

Troy pulled a vial out of his bag and he grinned evilly as he said, “We are going to get you to sit in the tub then you need to drink this. You will sweat out most of the wolfsbane over the next few hours.”

Peter looked with a grimace at the vial, he remembered Troy’s potions and most of them tasted foul and like something found in a gym locker. He nervously asked as he gestured at his face, “It’ll heal the burn scars? What about my lingering insanity? While I am mostly lucid there are still moments where the wolf is more in control.”

Troy nodded, “It may take a few days but as long as you find your anchor again you should find the insanity completely gone, so to speak, your pack will be more of a help there. As for the burns, once the wolfsbane is out of your system the burns should heal rather quickly. You may need to scrub the burns to clean out all the wolfsbane residue before they heal completely but I don’t think there will be any issues. Thankfully we don’t need to worry about the digitalis exposure since it doesn’t affect werewolves in the same way as humans.”

“The sheriff is using your test results to order tests on other patients in the long-term care ward.” Ralph explained, “He’s also filed a request for the exhumation of recent deaths on the ward so they can be tested for aconite and digitalis exposure.”

Peter asked incredulously, “Noah suspects an angel of mercy killer?”

With a nod, Ralph confirmed, “Yep, the death rate for that ward has always seemed high.”

Peter asked, “Has Danny had any luck with the cameras?”

Ralph shook his head, “No, I was going to talk to him after school.”

Peter smirked, “Let me talk to him, I need to discuss the pack and if he wants to be pack or just pack adjacent.”

“And me?” Ralph asked, “You did promise you would take me as a beta if you ever became an alpha.”

Peter smiled, “I did and I will. Now? Or do you want to wait until we get the wolfsbane dealt with?”

Ralph lifted his shirt and he said, “Now please Alpha. I have already let Alpha Ito know I am leaving her pack and she is looking forward to talking to you about reaffirming the treaty between your packs.”

-x-

Jackson grinned at Stiles in chemistry when they felt the new pack bond slide into place. Stiles whispered, “Must be Ralph.”

They were looking forward to going home to welcome their new beta and introducing Danny to their alpha.

When they left chemistry, Scott was waiting for Stiles outside the classroom. Stiles waved Jackson and Danny on as he murmured, “I’ll catch you both by the Porsche.”

He faced the teen wolf and demanded, “What do you want, Scott?”

Scott glared at Stiles and he snapped, “Why have I been called to the station? I got called out of my last class with a note that I was expected at the sheriff’s station to see Deputy Graeme, she wants to discuss what happened at the school.”

Stiles shrugged, “Wow, you haven’t spoken to me for nearly a week and this is what you want to talk about, no apology for ignoring me? Not even a thank you for trying to stop you from getting yourself killed. No, you just want to confront me for telling the truth about what happened at the school when you convinced Allison and Lydia to lie with you. I wish you the best of luck, Scotty. Tara has a bullshit detector that works better than a polygraph.” He shook his head, “You know what, stay away from me Scott, I am done with your lies. I just wish I had seen it earlier.”

He stepped around Scott and walked away, Scott yelled, “I didn’t lie, Stiles. You know he did it. Derek is dangerous and a killer and he will kill you if you don’t stay away.”

Stiles ignored him and welcomed the hug he got from Jackson by the Porsche. “Danny’s gone home to get his laptop. He’d left it running some app on the hospital camera footage while we were at school.”

Stiles smiled, “Cool. Do you know if Lydia or Allison got the same note?”

Jackson confirmed, “Allison did. Not sure about Lydia but it’s likely. Are they going to be able to coordinate their statements?”

Stiles shook his head and laughed, “I’ve said it before, Scott can’t make up lies on the spot, so as soon as Tara pokes holes in his statement, he’ll go bright red and start stammering. She’s been around us long enough to know his tells and she will use that to poke holes in the girl's statements. It’s a shame she wasn’t the deputy taking their initial statements.”

“Is it possible that the deputy who did was on the Argent payroll?” Jackson asked, it seemed weird that Derek was put on the most wanted list based on the word of 3 students.

Stiles snapped his head around to look at Jackson and he said, “You think there are deputies on the take?”

The younger teen nodded, “Yeah, look I know you grew up around the deputies but the lack of response to the fire, and how easy it was to shut down the investigation points at someone or more than one someone being on the take.”

Stiles nodded despondently, “We can go digging and see if any of them have odd payments. Dad will be gutted if any of them are on the take. He hates dirty cops.”

He sat and considered the various deputies he’d grown up around, as Jackson drove them home, “Part of me wants to find Cora and bring her home, the other part of me wants to wait until Kate is no longer around gunning for the Hales.”

Jackson agreed, “As much as I want my friend home, I think it’ll paint a target on her back if she shows up now. What about Danny, do you think Peter will offer him the bite?”

“He would be stupid not to,” Stiles snarked, “Danny is smart and would be a loyal beta, and he’ll need more betas.”

Jackson angrily stated, “McFail will never accept a Hale as his alpha, he will probably refuse to accept an alpha at all. He won’t accept that Peter was feral because of the actions of the Argents.”

Stiles nodded, “It’s scary though, his heart didn’t blip when he said Derek is dangerous, yet he still said what he said to Derek in Peter’s hospital room.”

The boys had talked to Derek at length about just what the wolfsbane poisoning over such a long period would have done to Peter. Stiles suggested that if he was feral when he killed Laura the alpha spark would have slowly helped him regain his lucidity but the wolfsbane poisoning would have slowed the process down. The pair of teens also discussed how to help Derek since he was still stuck in a blame spiral, which they suspected was compounded by Laura while they were in New York.

They pulled up at the Stilinski house and saw Derek and Danny in Danny’s car pull up behind them. Danny got out and he said, “Look who I found when I got home.”

Stiles saw how Derek was trying to hunch in on himself and he pulled Derek inside as he asked, “You ok, Sourwolf?”

Derek nodded, “I just needed some air and found myself across town before I realized. Peter is with Troy and they are sorting out the poisoning now and I just, yeah.”

Stiles nodded and he understood, “Come on, you can hide out in the library with Danny and Jax, while I go chat with Peter and Troy. He’s the magic-user?”

Derek nodded and he followed Stiles through to the library in the basement with Danny and Jackson. Stiles said, “I got notifications that some of the parcels arrived, I’ll show you both how to retrieve them once I am done talking with Peter and Troy.”

They all settled in to do homework, as Stiles went through the other basement door to visit with Peter.

Peter and Ralph turned to the door as they heard Stiles approaching, they were both confused as neither heard him approach the house or even open the front door.

He knocked on the bedroom door and he asked, “Alpha, may I enter?”

At Peter’s nod, Ralph opened the door and motioned for Stiles to join them. Stiles looked around and he couldn’t see the magic-user and he asked, “Did Troy leave?”

Peter nodded, “He was just here to make sure I got the wolfsbane poisoning fixed. He had to go report that the change over for Ralph to our pack went smoothly.”

Stiles grinned, “Welcome to the pack, Ralph! So are you all fixed, ready for a tour?”

“Tour?” They chorused in unison. Peter said, “We looked around the house, it looks fairly standard.”

Stiles smirked, “So we own four houses on this row, and underneath them is where we stored everything my mother got out of Europe when she fled. Including one of the biggest supernatural libraries.”

Peter stood with a look of want in his eyes. “Let’s go.”

Stiles led them to the basement closet and he said, “Look for the Batman logo, pull the box out from the shelf, and the door to the full basement opens.”

Peter pulled the box and looked up as they walked out into the small entry room. He snarked as he looked around the small room, “It doesn’t look like much.”

Derek opened the door from the library and he said, “Just wait Uncle Peter. I think you will like it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I write for fun and escapism. Thanks for reading my fic I hope you’re enjoying it.
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr: [HarleyJQuinWrites.tumblr.com](https://harleyjquinwrites.tumblr.com/)  
> Or Discord: [Pigtails and Pens Discord](https://discord.gg/UVqY8HCJsW)


	7. Chapter Seven

**February 24th, 2011**

Peter walked into the library and looked around in awe. It made the library he had been building in the Hale vaults look tiny. He looked at Stiles and whispered, “This,” He gestured to the shelves around the large room, “This is your horde isn’t it.”

Stiles smirked and sat quietly beside Jackson at the table as Peter disappeared into the stacks.

Ralph took a seat beside Derek and he murmured, “You ok kiddo?”

Derek nodded, “Yeah, I just needed air. I ended up at Danny’s and he brought me here.”

Danny waved from his seat where he was typing away on his laptop. Danny said, “I have news about the poisoning.”

Ralph raised an eyebrow and Danny said, “There are two sources. There was a nurse poisoning several patients with what I suspect is the digitalis, she stores the drug in her locker in a bottle that has a lotion label. I saved a screencap of her face to the cloud drive as well as footage of her injecting the drug into the IVs of several patients, including Peter. The wolfsbane was from another nurse who was putting it into the lotion she was using on Peter’s burns. I saved a photo of her to the drive in a separate folder and footage of her mixing the unauthorized liquid into Peter’s burn cream.”

Derek added, “Danny’s also managed to ‘find’ evidence of Kate being present for two of the recent animal attacks.”

Ralph grinned, “Nice work boys,” He called out, “Peter, I believe you wanted to talk to Danny before we are brought in on all the pack secrets.”

Peter emerged from the shelves with a book in his hand and a grin on his face. “This library is exquisite. There are books here that I have heard of but had been told all the copies were destroyed.”

Stiles nodded, “As far as the world is concerned, the library of my family was destroyed when they were killed off by hunters.”

Danny asked, “Your family?”

Stiles pointedly looked at Peter who asked, “Danny, do you want to join the pack?”

Danny nodded, “Of course. Where Jackson goes, I will follow.”

“Including the bite?” Peter asked confidently.

Danny agreed, “Of course. I’ll take the bite. The primer I was reading said more betas will help the pack and it will help protect me from Crazy Kate.”

Peter sat back and he asked, “You’re aware of the downsides?”

Danny nodded and he counted off on his fingers, “Hunters, bite rejection, control issues. I’m copacetic.”

He stood in front of Peter with his shirt lifted and he said, “Bite me, Alpha.”

Ralph chuckled, “You’re going to have your hands full with this lot, Peter.”

Peter looked up after biting Danny into the pack and he said, “I am sure you and Noah can help me keep everything under control.”

Stiles grinned, “Dad doesn’t want the bite, not unless he is dying and there is no other option. But he is pack through our familial bond. He wants a full briefing on the evidence we have and he’s asked to meet us at home tomorrow night after the game.”

Danny sat beside Derek once he had tucked his shirt in, and he asked, “So what’s the big secret?”

Stiles shifted into his beta form and giggled at the look of shock on both Ralph and Danny’s faces. “My family was the Dunstan family. We originated in Scotland, migrated to Europe, and were eventually taken out by hunters while mom was at school on an overnight field trip. She was human so was ignored by the hunters. She was adopted into the Gajos family by the man I get my name from, Mieczysław Genim Gajos, and he spirited her out of Europe with her family's belongings.”

Ralph frowned, “The Gajos family are hunters. They mostly stick to Eastern Europe and Scandinavia.”

Stiles nodded, “Yep, we are still in touch with them as adopted family. It’s where I got some of my information about the Argents. Grandpa is pissed that the Argents are taking out packs unchecked and he is likely to send someone over soon to start investigating themselves if something isn’t done.”

Peter looked worried and he said, “That would be a bad thing. Very bad. It would rile the hunters so they would be gunning for the ones who reported them. The Gajos hunters have a reputation for napalming the threats, so to speak. Rather than a more surgical strike.”

Stiles shrugged, “So? The Gajos family work more with law enforcement, they have contacts in most law enforcement agencies who are aware of the supernatural and they will work with them to make sure the supernatural issues don’t bleed out into the mundane world.”

Jackson finally finished typing his homework up and he asked, “So when do we get to see your full dragon form? I’d guess it’s too small in here for you to shift.”

Stiles nodded, “We can go out to the preserve this weekend, we have a clearing that I’ve warded to keep mundanes and hunters out so I can shift safely. I need to spend time shifted to keep my dragon happy. Dad's been wanting to measure me for ages since he is sure I've grown taller.”

Danny grinned and he asked, “Can you breathe fire?”

Stiles smirked and blew a few smoke rings to prove a point. “It’s harder in my human or beta form but doable, in my dragon form it’s so easy. Dad has worked with me so I can target my flame rather than just burning everything.”

Jackson asked, “Aren’t you worried about starting a forest fire?”

Stiles shook his head and he said, “I am good at wards, apparently it’s one of the family gifts. So the clearing is warded against fire, weather, as well as only allowing specific people entry. It’s a good place to train the senses and fighting in an uncontrolled environment.”

Peter asked, “Have you created any training golems? We had a few basic ones in our training area but our emissary wasn’t the best at creating them so they didn’t last long.”

Stiles nodded, “There are a few in the cabinet in the training room here, one was built to help me train in eskrima and the other to keep my skills up in Jiu-Jitsu.”

Danny looked up from his laptop and he asked, “Who’s your trainer?”

“Mathias Sheppard.” Stiles answered, “He runs the dojo in Oakdale. He’s also training me in Eskrima.”

Danny said, “He’s good. He spars frequently with my trainer in the local dojo.”

Stiles considered him and he said, “You might need to switch dojos. It’ll take you time to learn to moderate your strength and I don’t think the local dojo has anyone supernatural who can help you while you’re learning.”

Derek shook his head, “Not unless they got someone new. I know Cora went out of town for her lessons so she could train with another wolf.”  
  
Danny nodded and before he could get distracted again he said, “We have most of the evidence gathered and fit for mundane eyes ready to send as an anonymous tip. Where are we going to send it and who wants to go over it?”

Ralph made uncharacteristic grabby hands for the laptop as Peter suggested, “I would prefer more than one agency so if someone is being bought off to cover it up someone will spot it.”

Stiles said, “I am sending it to a friend of dad’s who is an FBI agent. I suspect he is aware of the supernatural as some of the cases he’s mentioned don’t sound entirely normal. Some of those cases have definitely been on our end of the spectrum.”

With a tap on his legal pad, Ralph suggested, “I think we should send it through to our sheriff’s department anonymous tip email, but just for the Hale fire. I would suggest sending the details for the other fires to their local stations. Let them know the list of cases, and that they are all related, but only send them the details for their own jurisdictions.”

Stiles considered it and he asked, “Do you think that will force them to contact the other departments to collaborate making it harder to sweep it all under the rug?”

Ralph nodded as he passed the laptop to Peter so he could go over the case notes, “Especially when the cases cross state lines. When they comprehend that Kate is a serial killer it will hopefully encourage them to contact the FBI.”

Peter looked up from the notes and he agreed, “It should do, the evidence is pretty clear cut without any of it being obtained illegally, technically.”

“I can set up an email address with a friend that will keep the IP anonymized,” Danny suggested, “We can set it up on one of the laptops Stiles ordered.”

Stiles jumped up and he pulled Jackson with him, “I forgot about our deliveries!”

Everyone but Ralph jumped up to follow him, Ralph waved them out of the room, he wanted more time to go over the files he was reading through. The boys had all been thorough and they had gathered a lot of evidence. 

Stiles opened the double doors at the end of the gym and they could see a glass roof above them with several boxes stacked on top, Stiles made sure they were all fully on the glass before he pushed a button that allowed the floor to descend. “Ok, when the floor stops, grab a box and carry it through to the central room, please. Most of it is server equipment, so handle it with care.”

Derek placed his boxes down in the central room and he asked, “Have you figured out where the server room is going?”

Stiles considered the various storage rooms as he walked around the cavern, these were rooms that he was still going through since his mom’s death. He had one that was mostly empty that was close to the main network line into the basement. He opened it and assessed the various boxes in the room before he asked, “Can you all move these boxes into the room on the right and I will start warding the room so it stays cool.”

Peter went to snoop in one of the boxes and Stiles snapped his hand out and stopped him. “Don’t, I haven’t checked these boxes and there could be something dangerous inside. If you want to snoop start on the room two doors down to the left. That’s full of the artifacts that I have cleared over. Dragons can horde some strange things, one of my relatives hoarded rare jewelry and some of it was cursed.” Stiles rolled his eyes, “From what I can gather from his journals he was still learning how to strip out the curses, but he obviously didn’t get the chance to complete his training.”

Peter nodded and once the room was cleared he left, with Jackson following, to check out the horde in the room Stiles directed him to. Derek and Danny were busy emptying the parcels that had been delivered. 

Derek called out, “Uncle Peter, I have your order here.” 

He placed a phone, laptop, and tablet into a pile and pushed them across the floor toward the room his Uncle Peter and Jackson were exploring, he would see them when he eventually emerged.

Danny commented, “We should be able to get started once Stiles is done warding the room. Most of what we wanted has arrived.”

Derek agreed, “I had no idea that some of these sites offered same-day delivery. Laura always made us use the cheapest option for everything. It was frustrating.”

Peter wandered out of the room he had been exploring and he said, “It’s because she didn’t have access to the Hale funds. Ralph said she never got in touch with Talia’s lawyer after you left town. Ralph is sorting out the probate that was never completed with Laura’s death. I was next in line but I don’t need it. Do you want me to get it all transferred into your name?”

Derek shook his head vehemently, “No! You keep it, or do whatever.”

He stood and stalked from the room as Peter sighed, “He needs ALL the therapy.”

Danny nodded morosely, “Kate did a number on him and his sister just added to it. She made it clear she blamed him entirely for the fire.”

Peter looked at him with his red eyes blazing and he demanded, “What?!”

Danny bared his throat in surrender and he said, “I don’t know much, but from things that have slipped Laura made it clear he was at fault.”

Peter roared his displeasure and he was about to stalk off to talk to Derek, but Danny put his hand on his chest and with his throat bared he said, “Not while you’re angry, Alpha.”

Stiles came out from the server room in his beta shift and he wrapped himself around Peter as he said, “Danny, can you go check on Derek. Please.”

Stiles murmured, “You are going to have to be careful with Derek. He’s close to breaking point and he will be blaming himself for the anger he can feel down the pack bonds, if you’re not careful he will block the bond completely. He is already struggling with self-doubt and I suspect he feels he doesn’t deserve to be in the Hale Pack since in his mind he caused its destruction.”

Peter sagged and he nodded, “I will ask Ralph to prioritize the search for the therapist.” He looked at Stiles and he asked, “There’s more isn’t there?”

Stiles nodded and he whispered, “I think Kate was calling him after the fire. I’ve seen him flinching when his phone rings.”

Peter scrubbed his hand down his face in frustration, “What the hell was my sister doing when she trained Laura to be alpha.”

Stiles shrugged, “I have wondered. I have quite a few books on alphas and their duties, running while abandoning pack members isn’t in any of those books. Isolating pack members and not getting them therapy isn’t either.” He looked seriously at Peter and he said, “I think your wolf knew who she was and he saw her as a threat, a threat to you, and a threat to the wellbeing of your pack.”

He walked away to check on Derek and he murmured, “I don’t think your wolf was wrong.”

Peter sat hard on the floor and desperate for a distraction, he started to pull the phone out of the box. Ralph had dropped off his old phone earlier, so he was able to stick his old Simcard in the new phone so he was up and running straight away. He sent a quick text to remind Ralph about the therapist, asking him to find someone local.

Jackson came in and sat beside him and he asked, “Will he be ok?”

Peter shrugged, “I don’t know. I really don’t. He was already messed up from what happened with his girlfriend, Paige, remember, Derek told you she was bitten by a rogue alpha. Stupid thing was, he was about to ask an alpha friend of mine to bite her, but she was attacked before he could. She died of bite rejection.”

Jackson asked, “Why didn’t he ask Talia?”

Peter admitted, “He did, she refused point-blank. She didn’t think Paige would make a good wolf, she thought she was flighty and fixated on her music. She wasn’t wrong but the way she turned Derek down was… well… he’s stubborn and he was determined to prove his mother wrong.”

Jackson grinned, “Sounds like a Hale. I remember Cora was more stubborn than anyone I know. She and Danny were often at loggerheads for various reasons. Maybe Cora could help with Derek, you could put out feelers with your contacts to find her?”

Peter sighed, “It’s likely she is being harbored with a pack we were allies with. I need to reach out as the Hale Alpha to cement those alliances, and hopefully one of them will admit to knowing where she is. I don't know which one she would have run to though, I mean she was only ten.”

Jackson grinned, “Yeah, but the Cora I remember was an extremely capable resourceful ten-year-old. If she knew hunters were involved she would have avoided the closer packs and gone for one of the more powerful packs so they could protect her.”

Peter agreed, “She would. I am just reluctant to pull her back here while Kate is gunning for us. I do have a few Alphas I can reach out to though, maybe if we can get in touch with her, let her know the lay of the land she can make her own choice.”

“Good,” Jackson turned, “I want to go check on Danny, see how his bite is healing.”

The pair found Danny and Stiles wrapped around Derek on one of the giant bean bags in the library. He was looking morose and still had tears in his eyes as he looked at his uncle.

Peter crouched in front of them and he said, “You know it’s not you that I am angry with, right? I don’t blame you for the fire, and I don’t blame you for leaving me behind. That’s all on your alphas. Talia failed you after Paige died, so so much, and you have no idea how much I wish I could resurrect my sister just so I could, ugh, I don’t even know at this point. Mostly though Laura failed you after the fire.”

Derek shook his head and he said quietly, “I should have known she was a hunter.”

“How?” Peter asked quietly with an edge of steel in his voice, “Your alpha never trained you in how to spot hunters. She was positive that since we had a treaty with the Argent hunters that they wouldn’t be a danger to us.”

Stiles and Danny both looked at him with incredulous expressions and Stiles snarked, “I can't decide if that’s naivety or willful blindness.”

Peter shrugged, “I have had six years to think it over and I still don’t know why she left the cubs so unprepared. It wasn’t just her kids but her nieces and nephews as well. I think Robert’s kids would have been fine as Robert took them away from Beacon Hills when his wife’s father died to help their pack out. They were only back for the full moon since Talia had made the Wolf Moon mandatory for all pack members.”

Stiles asked, “Robert was your brother? Younger than Talia?”

Peter nodded, “Talia was the oldest which is why she was chosen as the next alpha, then there was Robert and Kirsten, they were twins. I was a late accidental baby born ten years after the twins. Laura was only five years younger than me.”

Derek smiled sadly at Danny’s questioning look, “I had two brothers between me and Laura, Daniel and Erik, they were twins and they were three years older than me.”

Stiles checked his watch and he said, “We should hit the hay, we still have school tomorrow. Danny, are you good to choose one of the guest rooms?”

Danny nodded, “I picked one earlier, my bag is already in there. I let Mom know I was staying with Jackson tonight.”

Stiles gave Derek one last squeeze and he asked, “Are you going to be ok down here, Sourwolf? We can set up a puppy pile?”

Derek shook his head, “I’m ok. It’s safer down here until the deputies aren’t searching for me and I have plenty of assignments I can do for my classes.”

Peter squeezed his shoulder and he said, “I’ll come down tomorrow, I need to stay out of sight while the hospital thinks I am out of the country at a private clinic.” He looked around the library, “I think I will have plenty to keep me occupied though.”

Derek grinned, “Never change, Uncle Peter, never change.”

Stiles snarked as he was leaving the room, “And people think it’s dragon’s that hoard.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I write for fun and escapism. Thanks for reading my fic I hope you’re enjoying it.
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr: [HarleyJQuinWrites.tumblr.com](https://harleyjquinwrites.tumblr.com/)  
> Or Discord: [Pigtails and Pens Discord](https://discord.gg/UVqY8HCJsW)


	8. Chapter Eight

**February 25th, 2011**

Stiles woke before his alarm went off when he felt someone in the bed with him, he looked down to see Jackson wrapped around him like an octopus. He snarked quietly, “This is becoming a habit.”

Jackson went to move away in embarrassment and Stiles pulled him into a hug and he murmured, “I don’t mind. The fact you can get in here without waking me, means I instinctively trust you. If anyone else tried, I would be awake in a heartbeat.”

Jackson raised an eyebrow and he asked, “Shifter thing?”

Stiles shrugged as much as he could with Jackson using him as a heater and he said, “Maybe, I’m not entirely sure. Are you going to stay with Derek while Peter and I take Dad through the evidence?”

Jackson nodded, “I want to, Danny will too. Are you going to show him your crime wall in the basement or just the basic notes?”

Stiles shook his head, “Just the basic notes to start with, if he takes it well I will take him down to the crime wall. It should be enough to get him thinking about just what that family has been up to.” He leaned into Jackson and tried to get a scent of his wolf, “Have you noticed any other changes?”

Jackson shrugged, “No, just strength, reflexes are a bit faster and better hearing. My eyesight is doing something, but I haven’t figured out what yet.”

“We can spend some time on your training this weekend,” Stiles promised. 

They jumped when Stiles' alarm blared from the bedside table. Stiles reached out and turned it off as Jackson stood, “I should go get ready for school. Don’t forget your Lacrosse gear, we have that game tonight.”

-x-

As they walked together to class Jackson asked, “Are you going to play tonight? Coach put you on first line, remember?”

Stiles shook his head, “No, I’ve been thinking about it and I think it’s too risky, I want to be able to keep an eye on you and Danny given you were both recently bitten.”

Jackson stopped and stared at him, “Wait, the bite was why McCall flipped out and dislocated my shoulder?”

Stiles nodded, “It was just before his first full moon and he wasn’t listening to me or Derek. We both tried to tell him he needed to find an anchor and needed to get his wolf under control.”

They started walking again and Jackson quietly asked, “What did he do to you?”

Stiles snarked, “Oh, he just tried to kill me and I had to use the fire extinguisher to stop him.”

Jackson shook his head at the idiocy. He ignored Lydia trying to wave him down and Scott’s glaring as he dragged Stiles to seats at the back of their English class.

Scott tried several times over the day to talk to Stiles, but Stiles refused him point-blank. He eventually cornered Stiles as he was entering the locker room before the game and he demanded, “Why did you lie to your dad about what happened at the school? They called us in again to give a more detailed statement last night, they said there were conflicting statements given by each of the witnesses.”

Stiles pushed Scott away and he said coldly, “I didn’t lie, Scott. I told the deputy that interviewed me the truth about everything that happened that night.”

Jackson came out of the locker room and he said, “We both did, McCall. Are you coming, Stilinski? Coach is waiting.”

“No.” Stiles glared at Scott. “Nope, just… look, I can’t with him right now… I’ll see you back at home after the game. Sorry, Jackson.”

Jackson shrugged, knowing it was part of the plan, and he went back into the locker room with a glare at Scott. He whispered to Danny, “Stiles isn’t playing. Scott accused him of lying to get him in trouble.”

Coach stormed out of his office and he looked around the locker room and he bellowed, “Bilinski? McCall where is your Siamese twin?” He saw the look of confusion on Scott's face and he demanded, “Where the hell is Bilinski, McCall?”

Scott shrugged and he was about to say he didn’t know but Jackson spoke up, “McCall pissed him off by accusing him of lying on a statement to the sheriff and he stormed off.”

Coach expressed his displeasure, “McCall! Remind me to give you extra suicides next practice.”

Danny muttered, “If he doesn’t I will.”

Coach looked around the locker room before he yelled, “Lahey, you’re replacing Bilinski. Gear up!”

Isaac Lahey looked up in worry. He knew if he screwed up his dad would take it out on him later. 

Danny could scent the worry coming off Isaac in waves and he whispered, “Don’t stress. You’ll be fine Isaac.”

Jackson had a feeling Isaac’s home life was shit but he could never prove it. When mentioned his suspicions to David, his adoptive dad told him to drop it.

The team all trooped out onto the field, they were playing a semi-local team from Oakdale High, the Oakdale Beavers. Jackson and Danny were confident they could wipe the field with Oakdale as their team was stronger than last year and they ground Oakdale into the ground during their last match.

Stiles was using the shadows to hide on the edge of the field in the trees, knowing Scott barely used his senses he whispered, “I’m not far away if you need me.” 

Danny and Jackson both nodded imperceptibly as they ran out onto the field to start the game. 

As expected the Cyclones stomped the Beavers into the ground. Jackson and Danny tried to temper Scott’s showing off and Jackson helped Isaac score a goal, which in itself was worth it for the size of the grin on the teen’s face. They ended up winning the game 3 - 0 which had Coach leaping around on the sidelines like a lunatic. Which was honestly better than games they lost where he was stomping around yelling at them.

On the way back into the locker rooms Scott shoulder barged Jackson, hard enough to do serious damage to a human as he muttered about him being a ball hogging dick. Before Jackson could give in to the rage that was overwhelming him with an urge to attack the other beta, Stiles pulled him into the shadows under the bleachers and held him while he struggled to go after Scott.

Stiles whispered fast, “It’s not worth it. You know he’ll twist things so it looks like you’re the one being a dick.”

Jackson eventually calmed and he said, “I’m good, I’ll just ignore him. I promise.” He stepped back and mindful of werewolf ears he said, “We need to get back to your place for that thing.”

Jackson ran into the locker room and pointedly ignored Scott as he and Danny got changed. He murmured, “Are you coming over to hang out tonight? I know he wants to give you some training.”

Danny nodded, “Yeah, I already told my parents I am staying with friends this weekend. You have to be dreaming if you think I am going to miss our walk in the preserve.”

Jackson smirked, “I am looking forward to that as well. I think it’ll be fun.” Jackson looked around and he could see several people listening in to their conversation so he let out his inner troll so he added, “I can’t wait to see how big he is.”

By the time they got to their cars both Jackson and Danny were laughing so hard they could barely see at the looks Jackson’s trolling had got them. Scott had looked disgusted and he couldn’t get away from them fast enough.

Stiles raised an eyebrow and he asked, “Do I want to know?” They both shook their heads and promised they would explain later.

-x-

When they arrived at the Stilinski house the cruiser was already parked in the driveway. Stiles swore, “Shit, ok, you two go get Peter and Derek and go through the Batcave, you should be able to stay hidden in our basement so you can all listen in. If Derek’s not keen on that you can all wait in my bedroom, I’ll go up and open the window.”

Stiles trusted his pack would do what he asked and he walked into the house. “Daddio?”

Noah called out from the living room, “In here son.”

Stiles walked in with his backpack still on his back and he said, “I’ll just go put this up in my room.”

A quick trip to his bedroom where he had a whispered conversation with Peter who confirmed that Danny, Jackson, and Derek were all settled on the sofas in the basement so they could all listen in.

He thundered down the stairs and threw himself onto the sofa beside his dad and he said, “So, I have someone who’s going to help me explain what’s going on. You just have to promise not to shoot him.”

Noah pulled him into a half hug and he said, “As long as you trust him I am sure I won’t shoot him.”

Stiles nodded and he murmured, “Alpha, why don’t you join us.”

Peter sauntered in from the basement with a folder in his hand and he said, “Long time no see, Noah.”

Noah looked at Peter in shock and he said, “You’re looking a lot better than the last time I saw you. I thought you were being transferred to a clinic in Europe.”

Peter nodded as he sat beside Stiles on the sofa, “A cover story, to a point.”

“We had to get him out of there Dad,” Stiles exclaimed, “He was being poisoned with both aconite and digitalis.”

Noah held up a hand to stop Stiles and he asked, “I know aconite is bad but wouldn’t your system process digitalis out before it could do any damage.”

Peter shook his head, “No, from the research I did after Troy left, the digitalis exposure is what allowed my wolf to move around, it gave the wolf side of me more control over my body, something that normally only happens when we are shifted.” He saw the confused look on Noah’s face and he chuckled, “Ok, so let me try and explain it.”

Stiles interrupted and he said, “Think of it like my mental state when I am in my dragon form. The wolf is more primal and runs more on instinct, especially if the human mind is still asleep.”

Noah nodded so Peter continued, “The particular strain of wolfsbane they found in my system is one used to keep werewolves docile. We suspect it was being used to keep the human side of me in a coma state, but we aren’t entirely sure. The digitalis was a high enough dose to energize my wolf for a few hours and he would escape out the window to run while awake. I guess I was lucky the wolf returned to the hospital when it got tired instead of hiding in the preserve. Troy said it seemed like a bit of a lucky combination, if not for the digitalis I would have stayed in the coma as long as I was being dosed with wolfsbane.”

Noah stopped writing in his notebook and he asked, “Laura?”

“Was an accident,” Peter said sadly, “My wolf caught the scent of a foreign alpha in our territory and killed it for trespassing when it wouldn’t stand down. I didn’t realize it was Laura until the boys told me. Part of me will always regret killing her, but after learning how she’s treated Derek since the fire the other part of me is glad he’s free from her, and had I been lucid I would have challenged her formally for her actions.”

Noah asked, “Do I want to know?”

Stiles shook his head vehemently. “You really don't… But you will likely find out as we explain what’s been happening.”

Noah asked, “So the deaths that have been happening around town? I know they are all related to the fire but why kill them?”

Peter snapped, “Pack justice. It’s been six years since the fire and they were all free to live their lives while I was left to suffer in pain. I was reliving the fire all day every day, you have no idea what it’s like to hear your pack dying around you.”

Noah made more notes in his notebook and he asked, “So, you mentioned you had more to explain? I take it you mean more than a simple case of aconite poisoning and animal attacks?”

They both nodded as Peter opened the folder in front of him and he explained, “The fire wasn’t an accident, which I think you already know. What you probably don’t know is that it was one of a series of fires. We have identified eleven fires set by Kate Argent on various stable and peaceful packs. The Argents have then gone on to bribe officials so the cases are closed as accidents.”

Noah looked at Stiles and he asked, “You have a crime wall?”

Stiles stood, “Come on, you can meet some more of the pack and we can take you through the crime wall I set up downstairs.”

They all trooped through the basement into the main cavern where Stiles had used a large patch of blank wall to setup his crime board. Noah commented, “I can see why you set it up down here. That’s a lot of evidence, what are you planning to do with it all?”

Danny handed over a flash drive and he said, “We have created a mundane version of the file with all of the legally collected evidence for each fire. We are sending the individual case files to the local police departments for each fire and then a master file is going to the FBI via a contact of Stiles.”

Noah snapped his head around to Stiles and he demanded, “You’re involving Booth?”

Stiles nodded, “He will know what department to pass it all too so they start investigating, he will also make sure it doesn’t get swept under the rug.”

Noah nodded, “You realize he will probably work out you’re involved.”

“I’m aware,” Stiles agreed, “He would’ve found out eventually. He does visit whenever he has a case nearby.”

Noah trailed down the wall and he asked, “The survivors, they all seem to fit a specific age.”

Stiles glanced back at Derek as he nodded, “They do.”

Derek saw the look and he demanded, “There were others? I know you mentioned Brett but you didn’t say she seduced him.”

Jackson nodded, “We have found evidence of her working at the schools of each of the minors that survived the fires. Brett said she tried to seduce him but he’s gayer than Danny so it didn’t work.”

Derek paled and he ran from the cavern toward the library, with a glance at Peter the teens all took off after him.

Noah asked quietly, “Part of your issues with Laura?”

Peter contemplated how to answer, he knew now that Laura had been a bad alpha but he wasn’t aware of it when he killed her. Then she was just a foreign wolf in his territory, an interloper and a threat. He hedged as he said, “Yes, and no.”

Noah raised an eyebrow and Peter knew he wouldn’t accept such a blatant non-answer so he added, “When I killed her, only my wolf was awake as I said earlier. The human side of me that would have recognized Laura was still locked away in the nightmare of the fire as my wolf was running around. Killing her gave me her alpha spark which has allowed me to heal enough that I was able to wake up, still not entirely lucid so the wolf still had a lot of control.”

Noah nodded, “Hence the attacks on those who caused the fire. You seem fairly lucid now, I take it building a pack has helped?”

Peter grinned, “That and Troy helping expel the wolfsbane from my system. He’s Alpha Ito’s emissary and an ally.”

Noah asked, “Why didn’t you approach your own emissary?”

Peter turned away from the wall and Noah reached out a hand to stop him from walking away, Peter turned with a snarl and he said, “I don’t know who it is. I can feel the emissary bond but it’s blocked somehow. Talia always kept the emissary away from the pack so only she and Laura knew who they were.”

Noah asked, “Can you break the bond?”

Peter shook his head, “Not easily, most bonds require agreement from both sides to break it unless it’s being replaced, and while Stiles is a magic-user he’s already said he’s not diplomatic enough to be an emissary.”

Noah chuckled, “Let me guess, he would rather burn the world than play nice to get what he wants.”

Peter nodded, “That about sums it up. He has agreed to ward the territory so we get warnings about major threats coming in. He can’t do a full ward scheme as that requires the pack emissary to add their magic.”

Noah held up the drive he had been given and he asked, “When are you planning to send these out?”

“I am doing one last read-through tomorrow afternoon with Ralph,” Peter confirmed, “You’re welcome to join us. Then we'll send out the finalized version via anonymous email tomorrow night.”

Peter implored, “You need to be careful and watch your deputies closely, we are pretty sure at least one of them was paid off by the Argents. Danny is still digging into the fires to see who was bribed but it’s a slow process.”

Noah took one last look across the wall as he contemplated who would have been around to help the Argents bury the fire reports before he gestured with his head at the library and he asked, “Are they ok?”

Peter nodded, “They are calming him down. I should check on Danny since I bit him last night, but I am sure they would have said something if he was having issues.”

He was reluctant to say more where the betas could hear him so Noah suggested, “Danny will be fine, that kid is so chill his wolf will be more relaxed than a grown born wolf. Let’s go up and watch the game. I have tomorrow off so I can join you all on your hike through the preserve in the morning. Oh, before I forget, in case Ralph hasn't already passed it on, Derek was cleared by the evidence, and is no longer wanted in relation to the school janitor's death, the autopsy showed he had been attacked by an animal. Conflicting witness statements backed up by traffic camera footage showed at least two of the witnesses were lying. We have given the three teens all a warning about lying to the police.”

They settled on the sofa and Noah turned the game up fairly loud before he asked, “Now what were you reluctant to say downstairs.”

Peter was still paranoid that the kids would hear him so he leaned into Noah and he whispered, “Derek didn’t know Kate seduced others and he’s beating himself up that he couldn’t report her and try and stop her.”

Noah scowled and he whisper-shouted, “What the hell did Laura do to him that he couldn’t report what happened?”

Peter sighed and he whispered, “She alpha ordered him to stay quiet and she spent the six years they were in New York keeping him isolated and making sure he knew she blamed him entirely for the fire.”

Noah settled back to watch the game as he murmured, “You both need all the therapy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I write for fun and escapism what you see is what you get. Thanks for reading my brainchild I hope you’re enjoying it.
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr: [HarleyJQuinWrites.tumblr.com](https://harleyjquinwrites.tumblr.com/)  
> Or Discord: [Pigtails and Pens Discord](https://discord.gg/UVqY8HCJsW)


	9. Chapter Nine

**February 25th, 2011**

In the library, the teens were all trying to calm Derek down. He was angry that Laura had caused other kids to go through the hell he was going through, just because she’d wanted to bury her head in the sand.

Stiles and Jackson planted themselves on either side of Derek on the sofa in the library as Danny sat on his lap to prevent him from moving. Stiles murmured, “You couldn’t have said or done anything to prevent it, Sourwolf. She bought and bribed her way out of trouble time and time again. We think that if you had said anything Kate would have killed you to keep you quiet.”

When he felt Derek start to calm down Danny asked, “Do you have a big enough bed for all of us down here?”

Stiles mentally cataloged the spare rooms he had set up and he shook his head, “No, but we could just drag a few mattresses out and make a large bed in the main cavern.”

Derek shook his head, “No, I’ll be fine, I promise. I’m not going to go out and do anything stupid.”

Danny stood and he said, “We should go to bed then, I want to be up early for our trip into the preserve.”

“He’s really excited,” Derek whispered, “He can’t wait to see your full dragon form.”

Stiles grinned, “I can’t wait to see if I’ve grown. Dad is joining us so he can measure me.”

He stood and grabbed a small journal and he handed it to Danny who hadn’t been present for the discussion at the hospital. “This is where Dad notes down my measurements.”

Danny’s jaw dropped as he exclaimed, “Twelve feet! Twelve feet tall at the shoulders! What the hell Stiles?”

Stiles grinned with a mouthful of very sharp teeth as he said, “I’m probably bigger now, that was Christmas before last. We haven’t had time to do it since then, it takes quite a while to do the measurements with just me and dad on our own.”

Jackson’s eyes widened, “You had a growth spurt last year, will that translate to your dragon?”

Stiles shrugged, “I’m not sure, I don’t have anything to compare it with.”

“It should,” Derek added, “I know there were records of those in our family with a full shift form growing at a comparable rate to their human height. It’s rare though for us to find our full shift forms so young though.”

Stiles shrugged, “I am not sure what’s normal for dragon shifters, since I haven’t met another one and there was nothing in any of my family's journals, but Mom worked with me before she died to make sure I could control all aspects of my abilities. She knew I would be in danger if I lost control when I started shifting.”

“Smart,” Derek agreed, “We were always homeschooled until we had control of our wolf. It would have been dangerous if we were seen popping claws or flashing our eyes in public.”

Jackson laughed, “I think you both would have been fine if it happened in Beacon Hills. People around here are wilfully blind to anything ‘other’. Look at McCall, he gets suddenly fit, strong, and healed overnight and no one bats an eye at it.”

Stiles snarked, “Sunnydale Syndrome. People just don’t want to admit things aren’t normal.”

“Coach was damn near dancing a jig,” Danny said darkly, “I wonder if he’s human sometimes.”

Stiles pat Derek on the knee and he said, “If you need me, you know where to find me. I am going to have a snack and get some sleep. We’ll be getting breakfast from Mikey’s before we head to the preserve.”

They all stood and headed to their rooms to try and get some sleep. Danny was worried about Derek and decided he would keep an ear out for him in case he had any nightmares overnight.

Stiles realized as he was settling into sleep that he hadn’t asked Danny how his turn was going. He figured no one had said anything so it must be going pretty smooth and he made a mental note to bring it up on their trip to the preserve.

Stiles woke early and he wasn't surprised that yet again he had another body wrapped around him, he was shocked however when he opened his eyes and saw scales instead of skin. 

He sat up and he saw yellow eyes with a touch of red and slitted pupils blinking back at him, he reached out and ran his hand down the unfamiliar face and he asked, “Jackson?”

The creatures held his hand up and instinctively Stiles interlaced their fingers and he felt a new bond unexpectedly slam into place. 

Stiles looked at their hands in shock as the scales started to recede. 

Jackson scrambled back as he demanded, “What the hell was that, Stilinski?”

Stiles shrugged and he said quietly, “I don’t know.”

They looked up as they heard running feet and Derek burst into the room. Derek saw that Jackson seemed angry. He asked, “What’s going on?”

Stiles shrugged and he said, “I think we are going to need Peter’s help with this one.”

Jackson scowled and he demanded, “Why?”

With a hard look at Jackson, he said, “Because I have never seen another reptile shifter and we’ll need his help to figure out what the fuck just happened.”

Noah leaned on the door frame and he asked, “What did just happen boys?”

Stiles explained, “Jackson’s been joining me in bed the last few nights, which is expected, it’s pack behavior right. Well, this morning I woke up to find a shifted Jackson in bed with me, except he’s not a wolf, and when we touched we bonded somehow.”

Jackson was as far back from Stiles on the bed as he could get while still having the covers over him, and he said, “It wasn’t from touching, it was when you touched my hand, why the hell did you grab my hand like that?”

Stiles shrugged and he said quietly, “I don’t know, it just felt right, like it was something I had to do to protect you. Sorry.” He scrambled off the bed and ran for the bathroom before locking himself in.

Jackson sat mutinously on the end of the bed as Derek said, “I’m going to go wake Peter. I’ll send Danny up if he’s awake.”

Noah sat on the bed and he asked, “What’s going on in that head of yours, Jackson?”

Jackson shrugged and shook his head so Noah theorized, “I’m guessing you’re a bit confused, especially if there is a bond involved that neither of you asked for.”

Jackson snapped, “I’m supposed to be a werewolf, not whatever the fuck I am.”

“Language,” Peter snapped from the doorway. “Derek is trying to coax Stiles out of the bathroom, he said Danny is still asleep. Now, what’s going on?”

Jackson scowled, “I woke up wrapped around Stiles which has been normal since you bit me. I was going to ask you about it but kept forgetting to mention it. I don’t remember ever coming up here from the basement but I have woken up each morning wrapped around Stiles. This morning I was shifted and I had scales.”

Peter asked, “Derek said you bonded?”

Jackson nodded, “When our hands touched a bond formed, it felt strong, almost violent when it formed. But neither of us asked for it and I sure as shit didn’t want it.”

Peter sat on the other side of Jackson and he snapped, “Stop reacting like a pissed off kid. There is no bond that can form as strong as what you describe without at least unconscious consent from both parties. You need to stop and think before you destroy the friendship you have built with Stiles over the last week.”

When he saw that Jackson was calming down he asked, “Can you try and shift for me?”

Jackson shrugged and he admitted, “I’ve been trying while we’ve been talking but I’m not having much luck.” He whispered, “All I can concentrate on is the feelings of devastation coming down the bond and it’s a bit overwhelming.”

Peter used his finger under Jackson’s chin to lift his head and he flashed his eyes a vibrant red to try and push Jackson’s eyes to change. He was not disappointed when his eyes flickered to a bright yellow with red bleeding in from the edges and a slitted pupil that dilated in the light of the room. Peter held his face between his hands and he said, “Can you concentrate on your eyes and see if you can change them back and forth.”

Jackson was busy looking around the room with the vision changes his new eyes gave him. It seemed that he could see beyond the standard range of colors or something like it. He tried to follow Peter’s instructions but he could almost see a wolf around Peter that was dragging his attention in.

Peter called, “Jackson?”

Jackson murmured, “I think I can see your wolf, it’s definitely wolf shaped. It’s like a glowing shadow around you.”

“That sounds good,” Peter said with a grin, “But can you concentrate for a bit and try to change your eyes consciously?”

Jackson nodded and he tried to change his eyes back to human, he closed his eyes and tried to think about how the change felt so he could try to replicate it. He grinned when he opened his eyes and everything looked normal again. He asked, “Did they look familiar?”

Peter shook his head, “No, definitely reptilian but not something I have seen before.”

Jackson demanded, “So why aren’t I a wolf. I thought I was supposed to turn into a wolf.”

Noah said, “Sometimes the shape you take reflects the person you are. We’ll figure it out Jackson, our library has books about all sorts of supernatural creatures, there is bound to be something that matches what you are. We can start to research after our hike.”

Jackson asked quietly, “Aren’t you mad? I mean about the bond.”

Noah shook his head, “You’d think I would be, but I’m not. For two reasons, firstly, when you have a dragon shifter for a son you learn to accept all the curve balls and you just roll with them. The other reason, and probably the more important one is that Claudia, Stiles’ mom, warned me bonds like this could happen. She didn’t know who but she knew it was a possibility, and she said my reaction to it would affect his. She said if I accept it then he’ll be more willing to accept it. One thing I know about my kiddo though is whatever happened, it won’t harm either of you. He is too protective of those he considers his to accept it any other way. That devastation you can feel is likely him beating himself up for forcing a bond on you without your consent.”

Jackson nodded, “He has very strong opinions on consent. He ripped into Greenburg when he was joking about getting a girl drunk so she would sleep with him.”

Noah pat his knee before he stood and he said, “You’re going to have to fix this one, kiddo. Preferably before our hike, the last thing we want is a pissed-off dragon stomping through the preserve.”

Jackson closed his eyes and he agreed, “Can someone get me something to wear, it seems shifting broke everything I was wearing.”

Peter chuckled and threw him some clothes Derek had picked up from Jackson’s room in the basement. “I’m sending Derek back down to wake Danny while I help Noah gather what he needs to measure Stiles. You need to fix this, please.”

Jackson nodded and when he heard them all reach the bottom of the stairs he murmured, “Stiles?”

Stiles sullenly snapped, “What?”

Jackson tiptoed down the hallway and he settled outside the bathroom door and he whispered, “I’m sorry. I overreacted, badly. I know you didn’t force the bond on me, that you wouldn’t do that to anyone.”

He could hear Stiles moving around in the small room and he pleaded quietly, “Will you come out? Please.”

Stiles opened the door and he stood there with red-rimmed eyes looking like a drowned rat as he murmured, “What if it was me, what if your turn was corrupted by me. How do we know it wasn’t my dragon’s influence that turned you into a reptile too.”

Jackson wrapped him in a towel as he pulled him into a hug and he said, “I’m not a dragon so I doubt that’s it. Whatever it is we’ll figure it out. We have your library so we can research the hell out of whatever’s going on and Peter’s bound to have contacts if the library doesn’t help us.”

He dragged Stiles through to his room so he could get dressed. “Come on, we need to get you carbo-loaded at Mikey’s according to the Sheriff.” 

Stiles nodded and he stripped off his wet clothes as Jackson went down to his room to finish getting dressed. Stiles got dressed in his old sweats, they were quick and easy to remove and redress in as he hadn’t yet found a spell to keep him dressed as he shifted, so he always saved his old clothes for the days he spent in the preserve in his full shift form. He packed a backpack with the clothes he would wear when he was done shifting and he headed downstairs to meet the others for the trip to the diner. He made a mental note to talk to Peter about finding a spell that would let him keep his clothes when he was fully shifted.

Mikey’s was one of the few places in town where Peter would be safe to venture without being spotted. The only people who could get through the wards are those who were aware of the supernatural who had no ill intent. They catered to the supernatural palate using specially sourced meats and vegetables that weren’t loaded with preservatives and other artificial nasties that most modern foods were loaded with.

Noah loved eating at Mikey’s because Stiles loosened his diet restrictions and allowed him to eat the red meat. He suspected it was magically altered specifically for him so it didn’t increase his cholesterol but he would take it either way.

The other bonus to eating at a diner that catered for supernatural palates was that they also catered for supernatural appetites without asking too many questions. They knew better than to question the natures of their diners.

Becky approached the table with a handful of menus for them all, she greeted them and said, “Peter Hale as I live and breathe, it’s good to see you again. We’ve missed you.”

Peter grinned, “It’s good to be out and about again. I’ve been hanging out for a good Wagyu steak.”

Becky smiled, “We just got some in this morning, I’ll make sure Mikey prepares it just how you like it. Do you want the rest of your usual?” When Peter nodded his agreement she turned to Stiles, Noah, and Ralph, the latter having met them at the diner, and she asked, “What about you three, your usuals?”

Noah and Ralph both nodded and Stiles requested, “Double my normal please Becky, it’s going to be a long day and I need to carbo-load.”

Peter suggested, “Why don’t you guys get the same as me and you can grab a copy of the menu for next time.”

Derek, Danny, and Jackson all nodded. Danny said, “Can you make sure there are no onions in anything for me please.”

Becky wrote down the order and the special instruction for Danny. “Sure thing. Coffee’s for everyone? I can bring out a pot for you all to share.”

Noah agreed and he handed over their credit card to pay for the meal.

Jackson nudged Stiles and he asked, “What’s your usual?”

Stiles shrugged and he said, “Lots of pasta, curly fries, and a breakfast burger. Their pasta is to die for, so creamy and cheesy and really good for carbo-loading. You are going to love the steak Peter ordered. It’s one dad orders for special occasions, thick and juicy and you will notice the difference in taste between the steak you get from the supermarket.”

Becky brought the coffee and a tray of mugs to the table, “He’s right hon, the steak we get is bred specifically for supernaturals. No artificial chemicals are added at any time either on the farm or at the butcher. The food won’t be long boys, Mikey is cooking it now.”

Stiles asked, “So Dad, you are spending the afternoon with Peter and Ralph going through the case file to make sure it will pass mundane inspection?”

Noah nodded, “Yep, I also want to put together a file for your grandfather. He will be able to pass it to relevant parties to maybe get sanctions imposed on the Argents until the FBI can arrest them. I am also hopeful that if he knows we are doing something about it he won’t send a team here to shut them down.”

Jackson asked, “Is that such a bad thing?”

Ralph snorted, “So bad. They won’t stop to find out who’s innocent or guilty, they will just take out all the Argents to protect the secret and so far we only have proof of Kate being involved.”

Noah explained, “It’s due to what happened with Claudia’s family. They had been attacked by hunters about two years earlier, the hunters were warned but not dealt with. Stiles’ grandfather was so angry when he found out those same hunters returned to bomb the house. He took them all out to send a message but by then it was too late.”

Becky and a tall older gentleman carried out several trays and started placing meals down in front of everyone. The newbies all discovered why the tables were bigger than most that you would find in a typical diner when the pair returned with a second round of loaded trays. 

It took a bit of creative arranging but they fit all the plates on the table and everyone tucked in to eat. The sooner they were finished the sooner they could hike out to the clearing and see Stiles as a dragon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I write for fun and escapism what you see is what you get. Thanks for reading my brainchild I hope you’re enjoying it.
> 
> Check out my Every Fandom Reverse Bang Story: [Hunter’s Moon](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28849638)
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr: [HarleyJQuinWrites.tumblr.com](https://harleyjquinwrites.tumblr.com/)  
> Or Discord: [Pigtails and Pens Discord](https://discord.gg/UVqY8HCJsW)


	10. Chapter Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dragon time.

**February 26th, 2011**

They trooped through the preserve, with Peter looking around trying to pinpoint where they were in reference to the old Hale house. Stiles could see from his face what he was trying to figure out and he said, “We are just outside of the Hale property boundary. The house is about five miles southeast of the clearing. Far enough away that I could roar at full volume and no one at the house could’ve heard me, even if the wards weren’t there to muffle the sounds.”

Peter asked, “What other wards do you have setup? You mentioned wards that keep people out of the clearing unless they are approved, what else?”

Noah explained, “He’s warded it to be fireproof, semi soundproof, and weatherproof.” He saw the puzzled look on Peter’s face so he said, “Sound can get in, but not out.”

“What about the weatherproof?” Peter asked, “That isn’t something I have seen before.”

Stiles explained, “It means that severe weather like storms won’t damage the clearing or the wards.”

Derek asked, “Do we need to do anything when we get there so we can get in?”

Stiles nodded, “Yep, I will need you to bleed on the ward stone I have in the main entrance. We aren’t far away now.”

Stiles jogged ahead and threw his backpack through a gap in the trees. Noah followed and he walked through the gap, scooping up Stiles’ backpack as he walked to the edge of the clearing. 

The pack approached and they lost sight of Noah as he disappeared between the trees. Stiles pointed at a rock that was decorated with runes, Peter could see them clearly when he flashed his eyes to that familiar alpha red. Stiles instructed, “Make a cut on your palm and then hold your palm to the rock until you feel it has accepted you. Trust me when I say you will know when that happens.”

Peter approached first and he slashed his palm, he held back the healing as he allowed the blood to gather on his hand while he tried to spot Noah through the dense foliage. 

He placed his hand on the rock and stared in shock as he felt the change as the ward accepted him. He looked up and he could now see through the trees to where Noah was setting up to measure Stiles.

He motioned for the others to follow his example and when he checked the rock he noticed it had absorbed all of his blood. Ralph was quick to request acceptance from the ward stone before he walked through to join Noah, he had so many questions about how one would measure a dragon as a human.

Danny and Jackson both held their hand out when they saw Derek pop a claw so he could slice across their palms, Danny went first and the ward accepted him fairly quickly. Jackson followed and he frowned when nothing happened. He asked, “What should change?”

Peter said, “When the ward accepted me I could see through the trees to see what Noah was doing.”

Jackson lifted his hand and he saw the blood was gone and his hand had healed and he said, “Oh. I could already do that.”

Stiles pulled him to stand beside him as they waited for Derek to take his turn as he had been able to hold back the healing on the cut on his palm. He murmured in Jackson’s ear, “It might be that bond, letting you into my warded areas automatically, we can test it back at the house. I have a few warded rooms we can test it on.”

Derek gasped when he could see through the trees and he followed the rest of the group through to where Noah had set up a long spool of rope which seemed to have markings down its length.

Stiles told everyone to wait at the edge of the trees so he could shift in the middle and he didn’t have to worry about hitting anyone as he shifted. He made sure to pass his amulet to his dad, he didn’t want to break it shifting.

They all watched with bated breath as Stiles walked into the center of the clearing and took a few deep breaths, they heard the crunch of shifting bones as he started to shift and grow in front of them. 

He was an imposing sight, his scales took on the same shade as his beta shift, matte black from nose to tail tip with a blue sheen in the right light. The ethereal green color of his eyes carried over to his full shift form, as did a lot of his beta shift characteristics. He had long horns protruding from the top of his head, with a mohawk of spikes between them that continued down his spine, they got larger as they continued down his back, almost triangular in shape, but only just. As they got closer to the tip of his tail they seemed to get smaller, but the tip of his tail flared with large spikes on either side. His wings were huge and similar to those you see on a bat, complete with claws at the thumb, and the webbing of the wings was the same color as his scales but looked as tough as leather.

When he was done shifting he dropped his head down and sniffed each of them carefully. They all knew intellectually how big he was after seeing the notebook and hearing about it, but it was another thing entirely to see just how big Stiles dragon form was. The only calm one in the group seemed to be Noah who was adding observations to the notebook about his spikes along his spine and his wings. The spikes had changed at the back of his neck down to his wing joints, they weren’t as sharp as the rest and the membrane in his wings seemed tougher, he guessed to aid his flight since he was a fair bit bigger than the last time he was able to measure his son.

Peter was the first to break out of his stunned silence when he said sternly, “You have wings!”

Stiles stood and he let the wings out fully so they could see just how big his wingspan was. Noah commented, “He’s definitely grown. He can nearly touch the trees on either side of the clearing with his wingtips.”

Peter repeated himself, “He has bloody huge wings! He never mentioned the wings.”

Jackson laughed, “A dragon would look odd without them, Alpha.”

Peter conceded the point and he asked, “So how do we measure him?”

Noah held up a long length of rope, “Simple, let’s start with the wings since he's showing them off. One of you take one end, make sure it's the end with the red mark and walk it across until you reach the other end of his wingspan. The rope has markings for measurements so whoever is at this end will be in charge of letting the rope out and pulling it taut to get the measurements. Once you are sure you have the right place on the rope call out the measurements as you get them.”

He turned a few pages in the notebook Danny had been looking through last night as Jackson picked up the end of the rope with the red end and dragged it across the clearing to the opposite wingtip. He ran his hand down Stiles' flank as he walked under him enjoying the feel of the scales under his hand. Stiles did his best to keep his wings stretched and flat as they were moving the rope around. Derek had picked up the other end of the rope and he was holding it so Jackson could pull his end away as he moved to stand under the other wingtip. 

Danny was like a kid in a candy store as he, Peter, and Ralph walked around Stiles checking out his full shift form. Stiles was tempted to hold the younger beta down under his foot for a bit, as the bouncing around was making him dizzy.

Jackson stopped laughing at his best friend's excitement as called out, “Ready.” Derek pulled the rope so it was taut across the ground and he checked the measurement on the rope as he called out, “42 feet and… 2, no 3 inches.”

Noah grinned, “That’s an increase of nearly ten feet, ok, now for the length, nose tip to tail tip please.”

Stiles pulled his wings in so they were tucked into his body and once Jackson had the rope out from under him he lay down with his head stretched out in front of him and tail stretched out behind him.

Jackson walked to his snout and rubbed it gently as he murmured, “You’re gorgeous, you know that right?” 

He was blown back slightly by the snort from Stiles who had many insecurities about his looks no matter what form he was in. He was interrupted by a yell from Peter, “Stop complimenting your dragon and get on with the measuring, Jackson.”

Jackson nodded and with a pat to the snout, he walked to the side and set the red end of the rope on the ground level with the tip of his nose. Derek pulled the rope taut and he called out, 59 feet, 9 inches. I would also like to point out that those spines on his tail are really sharp.”

Noah laughed as he agreed, “He can cut his training dummies in half with his tail when he tries. Right, now for height I think Jackson will be the best for this, you need to stand on his back and measure from the shoulders to the ground.”

Jackson looked down at Stiles and he asked, “You ok if I clamber all over your back?”

Stiles answered by moving his foreleg so Jackson could use it to climb up onto his back. Noah called out, “Best place to stand is between the wings so you can drop the rope down beside the base of his neck.”

Jackson tucked the rope end into his belt and climbed gingerly up the foreleg and over the shoulder with a bit of a nudge from Stiles snout so he was settled comfortably between the shoulder blades where the wings seemed to be anchored. Derek walked the rope around so it would be a straight line from where Jackson was sitting and waited for Jackson to get the top of the rope into position.

Jackson called out, “Ready” as he held the rope steady from the height of the shoulder. Derek pulled the rope so it was tight again and he checked the measurements, “16 feet.”

Noah patted his flank and he said, “Nice work, Stiles. Hopefully, you won’t get much bigger else we’ll have to find you a bigger clearing.”

Derek asked, “Can we see your flame?”

Stiles turned his head to Peter and raised an eyebrow in question. Peter nodded his ascent and moved to stand behind Noah and Ralph as he said, “I’m sure I’ll be fine, it would be good to see how the fireproofing ward stands up to a dragon's flame.”

Jackson jumped when he heard a voice in his head, _‘Do you want to stay there or back on the ground.’_

He looked at Stiles who seemed to be waiting for an answer, so he experimented and responded in a way he hoped was telepathic, _‘I’m fine here, you’re nice and warm. Is this normal, can you speak to everyone like this?’_

Stiles carefully moved around, mindful of his passenger as he answered, _‘Nope, you’re the first.’_

When he was facing away from the group in the trees he started the process to build his flame and he could feel Jackson lay down to get more of the heat as it built up before he let it out in a long large flame.

Derek and Danny both moved so Stiles could see them and then when he moved back they ran to the trees he flamed and they were both surprised that while the trees were a little hot, there was no damage to the trees or the birds in them. 

Danny saw Jackson plastered to Stiles back and he called up, “You good, Jackson?”

Jackson grinned, “He’s so warm, it’s like having my own personal space heater.”

Derek approached and he asked, “May I feel?”

Stiles nodded and Noah directed, “If you feel his chest at about your head height he should be quite warm there.”

Derek reached up and felt the scales on his chest and he asked, “So you don't generate the flame in your stomach.”

Jackson snorted and he said, “He said, and I quote, _‘Fuck you, I’m not a fucking swamp dragon.’_ ”

Noah chuckled, “From what we can tell, and this is mostly guesswork, he generates the heat in his chest, and when he breathes out whatever it is as soon as it hits the air it ignites.” He frowned when he realized what Jackson said, “You can hear him?”

Jackson nodded and he tapped his head, “Up here, we can talk telepathically I guess. He’s not sure how it happened either but we’ve been talking and we suspect it’s the bond.” 

Stiles said, _‘Time to get down, I need to scratch to get the loose scales off. I’ll let you know if I need help with any.’_

Jackson slid down Stiles' foreleg and he said, “He needs to scratch.”

Noah said, “About time. He will have some loose scales which we will collect, he uses them in his amulets.” He noticed a few of the pack getting curious and creeping closer as Stiles was shaking and scratching so he called out a warning, “Keep an eye on his tail, it gets a bit wild when he's shaking off the scales.”

Ralph curiously asked, “What else can the scales be used for?”

“My kevlar vests,” Noah explained with a shrug, “They are better than kevlar at stopping bullets without the rib breaking that is often involved with plain kevlar so Stiles has lined a few of my vests with them over time. They don’t perish so he has a good stockpile in the workshop at home. We’ve tried all sorts of experiments to see what we can do with them in the workshop but so far it’s been limited to amulets and my vests. It’s been fun with the two of us spending time experimenting though.”

Noah passed him one of the scales that flicked off near them. It was smaller than he expected, hexagon-shaped slightly bigger than a quarter. He flicked out a claw and tried to scratch it but looked up when he heard Noah laughing.

Noah said, “Not even Stiles talons can scratch them. The only way Stiles has found to scribe runes on them is with a diamond tip scribe. It’s how he makes his amulet to hide his scent of being other, he’s working on them for the rest of the pack to help stay hidden from hunters.”

Ralph grinned, “That would be great. Peter has a couple of books that might help him if he doesn’t have them already, they go into creating rune clusters so more can be fit into a small space. So he could combine runes for control and for hiding to help us keep our wolves hidden even if we wolf out in public.”

Jackson called out from where he was gathering scales while quietly talking to Stiles, “Stiles said he wants those books, yesterday. Please.”

When Stiles was finally done getting all the loose scales off he snarked to Jackson, _‘Sometimes I think it would be easier if I shed like a snake rather than dropping scales every time I come out here.’_

Jackson replied as he gathered the last of the scales and handed them to Noah, _‘Scales seem to have more uses than a shed skin would though.'_ Out loud he asked, “So what now?”

Peter grinned and he said, “Now pup we get you shifted so we can figure out what you are.”

They spent half an hour trying to get Jackson to shift, he had his eyes nailed and he could switch them back and forth easily, he loved looking around at each of the wolves. He commented, “Your wolves are all different, different coloring but I can see how they are different. Derek’s is the biggest and it’s jet black, Danny’s is a gorgeous brown color, Peter yours is dark grey with lighter grey patches, and Ralph yours is like a dark chocolate brown, almost black.”

Peter looked between Stiles and Jackson and he asked, “Can you two send more than talking between you, do you feel each other's emotions?”

Jackson nodded, “Remember this morning I could feel his devastation through the bond.”

Peter asked Stiles, “Can you send him what you feel when you shift?”

Stiles suggested to Jackson, _‘I have a better idea, I can open up the bond while I shift so you feel it with me, if I shift back and forth a few times you should get a sense of it.’_

Jackson nodded and he moved back to give Stiles the space to shift, he felt the bond open further and he could feel the changes that occurred as Stiles shifted, he shifted back and forth a few times, completely uncaring of the looks he was getting from the pack as they saw his naked form. Eventually, Jackson stopped staring at Stiles and he grinned as he shifted into his lizard form complete with a long, clawed tail.

Stiles thought, _‘I wonder if you can manifest your tail as part of your beta shift? I can if I need, to but I try not to as it screws up my balance if I am not fighting.’_

Peter saw the fluid dripping off Jackson’s claws and even off the claw on his tail and he murmured, “I think, I think I know what you are Jackson. But I want to check my bestiary first, it’s in the vault with my other books.” He saw Stiles lift his head in interest and he confirmed, “Yes Stiles, I’ll bring the good books to the Batcave.”

Peter walked over to help Derek train Danny in how to find his anchor and shifting between forms since Stiles had Jackson under control.

Stiles shifted back and he pulled his clothes out of the backpack he had brought, he was glad he had thought to grab spares as the clothes Jackson was wearing were completely shredded. He got dressed and made sure he left his tee-shirt untucked. He was going to shift into his full beta shift, complete with his tail to see if Jackson could mimic it, he didn’t want to destroy another tee-shirt.

He pulled the spare set of clothes out of his backpack and he said silently, _‘I brought you spare clothes in case you shifted, get dressed and we can try your beta shift.’_

Jackson stalked up to the backpack and with a quiet hiss he shifted back to human and got dressed and they spent some time shifting between the facial beta shift which gave Jackson a line of scales up the sides of his face where the wolves had fur, his reptilian eyes and a mouthful of very sharp teeth, and the shift that added the tail into the mix. It didn’t seem to matter what shift he chose he could generate the fluid on his claws at will.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I write for fun and escapism what you see is what you get. Thanks for reading my brainchild I hope you’re enjoying it.
> 
> Check out my Every Fandom Reverse Bang Story: [Hunter’s Moon](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28849638)
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr: [HarleyJQuinWrites.tumblr.com](https://harleyjquinwrites.tumblr.com/)  
> Or Discord: [Pigtails and Pens Discord](https://discord.gg/UVqY8HCJsW)


	11. Chapter Eleven

**February 26th, 2011**

Peter snagged Derek and they dived into the stacks of the library as soon as they got back, he’d made a detour via the Hale vault under the school to pick up his books, but he was sure he’d seen the book he needed when he’d been exploring earlier. He was passing books to Derek to take back to the big desk they were working from. Once he was happy with the books in Derek’s arms, he sent him back to the table and asked him to write up a list of everything he had noticed about Jackson’s shift. 

Peter had left the teens working with Ralph and Noah, they were finalizing the info packs for each of the relevant police departments, as well as the main pack of evidence for the FBI via Stiles godfather, and the Gajos family patriarch. Derek was keen to help them, but Peter was worried about him seeing just how much damage Kate had done after her hit on the Hale Pack. As it was he could see regular flinches from Derek as the group discussed what evidence to leave in and what to leave out for later, once they knew if the investigators were aware of the supernatural.

Derek eventually stood and he said quietly, “I need some air, I’m going to go for a run. I’ll be back later.”

Peter nodded and scent marked him as he passed behind him, he murmured, “Are you sure you don’t want someone to go with you?”

Derek shook his head, “No, thanks. I just need… air.” He took off through the house Peter was renting, and ran out into the preserve.

Stiles wandered into the library and he asked, “He ok?”

Peter shook his head, “Not even slightly, kiddo. He’s feeling guilty that others were harmed because he was forced to keep his mouth shut. It’s going to take time and reassurance from us for him to realize nothing would have stopped her.”

Stiles tapped the page he had open in the bestiary and he asked, “Kanima?”

Peter nodded, “They are quite rare, there are a lot of theories as to how the Kanima happens, but most of them are conflicting theories which tells me no one really knows the original reason.”

He saw a look of contemplation on Stiles’ face and he asked, “You know about the Kanima?”

Stiles nodded and he stood to pull some books from deep in the stacks, as well as some of the personal journals. 

He said, “Kanima-dragon pairings are legendary. These journals contain accounts from bonded dragon and kanima pairs that were able to protect their pack. That the pairings were noted to be powerful and symbiotic, and watching them in battle was like watching a dance, an incredibly violent, but graceful dance. That the pair could cover each other without ever speaking a word.”

Jackson squeezed in beside his mate, “The telepathy probably helps. How is it symbiotic though?”

Peter cleared his throat awkwardly, “So the Kanima is known to wolves as a wolf shifter where the shift has gone wrong, often due to a lack of self or identity. They crave a master and will seek one out as an instinctual imperative. They are most often captured by hunters and used as mindless drones, as vengeance killers. The kanima often doesn’t realize they are a kanima and they don’t remember the killings they are forced to do by their masters.”

Stiles looked at Peter with a disgusted look on his face, “That explains why hunters were gunning for dragons. My uncle had discovered that the hunters were killing dragons because of the dragon kanima bonded pairs. He theorized it was because the bonding made them too powerful and the dragons are easier to track down than the kanima which appear to happen at random. He said the bonded pairs were more like werewolf mates than a master-slave relationship.”

Jackson sighed, “Thank fuck, if I am a kanima I don’t want to be used as some hunter’s murder puppet. So do any of the books tell you what was dripping out of my claws?”

Peter grinned with a grin the other two knew would be trouble, “Kanima venom is a powerful paralytic, usually it's just a few drops in the mouth or a scratch from the claws to get it into the bloodstream and it leaves the victim paralyzed for several hours.”

“Even wolves?” Jackson asked in surprise.

Peter nodded, “Depending on how much venom gets in the scratch it can even take an alpha wolf down for a few hours.”

Jackson asked, “Is there an antivenom? Something we can keep on hand in case I accidentally paralyze someone?”

Peter started to shake his head in denial but he looked up in shock when Stiles said, “Yep this book lists an antivenin which is the same thing, but it looks like a difficult potion to make and some of the components are hard to find.”

Peter asked, “There is? Since when?”

Stiles handed over what looked like an ancient recipe book judging by the stains, that was open to a specific page. Peter commented, “It looks well used.”

Stiles grinned, “I’ve been experimenting with ink recipes that can mark shifters. I want to try runic tattoos but it’s pointless until I figure out how to change the inks and then I have to find a tattoo artist willing to use altered inks.

Peter nodded and he said, “When you’re at the point of wanting to test the tattoo let me know, I have an artist friend in town who’s a shifter.” 

Peter started reading, “I should be able to get most of this, it looks like it makes a paste that goes over the scratch. What about if the venom is injected?”

Stiles reached over the table and turned the page and there were instructions for how to turn the paste into a drink.”

“My great uncle Roger wrote in his journals that it tastes foul to drink,” Stiles said with a chuckle, “His words, not mine, but it’s worth it to keep some on you at all times especially for sparring sessions.”

Jackson nodded, “Definitely, I don’t want to accidentally leave someone paralyzed because I let the venom out during a fight.”

Peter said, “Once we have a good supply of the paste you’ll have to spend some time training up in fighting with the venom so you know the best ways to use it.”

Stiles grinned, “Also, our bond, makes both of us immune to the venom so you can spar with me and we won’t be affected.”

Jackson frowned as he thought about the wording and the look of contemplation on Peter’s face so he asked, “I would be affected if we weren’t bonded?”

Peter nodded, “People often use the venom to test suspects to try and find the kanima when one is seen. The problem is that the kanima who are unbonded or bound to a master rather than a mate are usually unaware of their altered state. Most of the time they think the bite failed or that they are immune to the bite, and the human side is still susceptible to the venom.”

Jackson looked around at all the books and he asked, “So what else can we expect from the bond?”

Stiles shrugged, “We’ll have to research, I didn’t even know telepathy was an option until this morning and that was mostly instinct, to be honest.”

Peter asked Stiles, “Do you ever go flying?”

Stiles blushed, “Only when it's cloudy enough to hide me in the clouds. I can pull the shadows to hide at night but I am still big enough for people to see when giant patches of stars go missing.”

Jackson looked up, “Now that I want to see, you looked too big to fly.”

“My theory is part aerodynamics, part magic.” Stiles commented, “It’s not like I have anything to compare it to.”

Jackson asked, “So by being bonded I am safe from hunters wanting to use me as a murder puppet? They can’t force a new bond?”

Stiles shook his head, “The only thing that would break the bond is the death of both mates. If they kill me to try and bond with you, it won’t work.”

At that morbid thought, Peter asked, “How's the case stuff going?”

“They’re nearly done, it’s mostly just the Sheriff and Ralph debating what would pass the mundane filters.” Jackson admitted, “The Sheriff wants to leave more out than Ralph’s comfortable with.”

Peter stood, “I’m going to see if I can help. Are you two going to keep researching?”

They both nodded and settled in to read through the journals, they were both making notes as they were reading for things they wanted to cross-reference later. As soon as Peter was out of the room Stiles let out a talon and he scratched a rune into the table. Jackson jumped when he felt it activate as Stiles pushed magic into it as the sounds from outside of the room faded. He asked, “Privacy ward? Why scratch the table though?”

Stiles shrugged, “It’s just a temporary silencing ward, it’ll fade as it runs its course after a few hours and there’ll be no sign of damage on the table.” 

After nearly two hours of reading, Stiles asked quietly, “Are we going to talk about this, about the bond?”

Jackson sullenly said, “What’s there to talk about, we’re bonded.”

Stiles spun his chair so he was facing Jackson and he snapped, “So this doesn’t bother you, damn it, Jackson, you’re straight.”

Jackson slid the journal he was reading across to Stiles and he said quietly, “Apparently not.”

Stiles read through the section he was pointing to, “The bond like ours can only form with fated mates?” He looked up, “Soulmates?”

Jackson pointed to a paragraph at the bottom of the page, “Often the pairs were already dating when they bonded. They said that the bonded pairs would have eventually got together outside of the bond. Otherwise, it ends up as more of a master and slave type bond which can be broken by the master at any time. Like what Peter was explaining before.”

Stiles paled and he whispered, “Did I fuck it up for you?”

Jackson frowned, “Fuck what up?”

Stiles stood and he started pacing, “Did I force you to be a kanima instead of a wolf? Was it my presence in the pack bond that forced you to want to bond?”

Jackson stood in front of Stiles to stop his pacing, when he stopped Jackson cupped his cheeks and he said, “This was not your fault. Odds are even if you were human I would still have turned into a kanima due to the issues I have with not knowing anything about my biological parents. And then we would be up shit creek because I would have been used to kill people.”

When Stiles still didn’t say anything Jackson said, “Look, clearly Fate, and yes I mean Fate with a capital F, knows what she’s doing or the bonded pairs wouldn’t be legends.” With a cocky smile, he asked, “Is it so bad, being bonded to me?”

Stiles shook his head, “No, but it means you get to be bonded to the spaz. Who’d want that.”

Jackson dropped his hands in shock at just how little self-confidence his mate had. Stiles used that as an excuse to try and flee the room but Jackson reacted just as quickly as he reached out and grabbed Stiles’ hand. “Wait, just wait, what are you talking about?”

Stiles could feel the tears on his cheeks as he said, “I have better hearing than even a wolf. I hear what people say about me at school. Hyperactive spaz is one of the nicer things people say.”

Jackson snarled, “And we both know that’s a mask you wear to keep you safe. Look, it’s not even been a week yet, but the Stiles I have seen since you let the mask drop around me couldn’t be more different than the Stiles they gossip about at school. You’re smart, confident, and honestly, you can’t have missed me ogling at you this morning in the clearing. You’re hot and it was distracting as fuck, which is why I took a few tries to figure out my shift.”

Stiles blushed and he said, “Seriously? You could have anyone but fate or whatever has forced you to be bonded to me.”

Jackson shrugged, “Am I pissed that we didn’t get a choice? Yes,” He saw Stiles start to pull away and he hurriedly added, “Pissed at Fate, not you, for deciding this for us. In a perfect world, we would’ve had the chance to figure it out for ourselves rather than some higher power deciding to force it on us.”

Stiles asked quietly, “Would you’ve picked me though? Like I said before, you’re straight.”

“Ogling, Stiles, I couldn’t keep my eyes off you,” Jackson reminded him, “It would seem I am not as straight as either of us thought.” He saw the disbelief on Stiles’ face and he asked quietly, “Can I kiss you?”

Stiles snapped his head up and he asked, “What?”

Jackson reached up and cupped Stiles’ cheek again and he asked, “Can I kiss you?”

Stiles shrugged, “Sure.”

Jackson leaned in and kissed Stiles, it was a gentle chaste kiss to start with, but as soon as he felt Stiles relax he licked at the seam of Stiles' lips, and when Stiles gasped he deepened the kiss. He felt Stiles wrap his arms around his neck as they got lost in each other. He looped his fingers in Stiles’ belt loops and pulled him closer as the kiss got even hotter and he coaxed the occasional moan out of the other teen. They were really enjoying themselves until they were interrupted by a gasp from the door.

Danny was standing at the door grinning and fanning himself. “Damn boys, that was hot!”

Jackson scowled and without taking his eyes off Stiles he asked bitingly, “Can we help you?”

Danny chuckled at the indignant sound in Jackson’s voice, “Peter sent me in here to check on you. He got worried when he couldn’t hear anything.”

Stiles pointed at the fading rune on the table and he said, “Silencing ward. We needed to talk, privately.”

“I see it went well,” Danny commented with a leer.

Stiles cupped Jackson’s cheek and he glanced at Jackson before he looked at Danny as he said, “We’re not done yet, feel free to tell our alpha that we’re fine.”

Danny grinned and he left the room shutting the door quietly as he left. He walked back to the room they were using for the crime wall and he said, “They’re fine, Stiles had setup a silencing ward so they could discuss the bond privately.”

Peter could smell the arousal on the teen so he asked, “They were just discussing the bond?”

Danny grinned with his dimples on full beam and knowing full well the wolves could hear the lie he said, “Yup.” 

Noah flicked him a suspicious look before he got back to the evidence, the less he knew about his son’s love life, the better. 

Danny saw the mischievous grin on Peter’s face and he was about to make a smartass comment until he realised he hadn’t seen Derek for a while, so he asked, “Should we go look for Derek? Shouldn’t he be back by now?”

Peter tried to call him but they could hear the vibration of his phone coming from one of the guest rooms. “That’s not good. I know he can take care of himself but he usually only runs for an hour or so.” He checked his watch and he said, “It’s been nearly four hours now. Danny, can you go and see if he’s turned up at your place? I’ll take Ralph to see if we can pick up his trail.”   
  
Stiles and Jackson came in and Stiles suggested, “I can take a fly around the preserve and see if I can spot him.”

“We’ll take a fly,” Jackson added, “I’m not passing up a chance to fly with you.”

Stiles glared at Jackson and privately he said, _‘You could fall!’_

Jackson nodded, _‘I could, but then lizards have sticky feet so I’m sure I’ll be fine. I trust you to not let me fall and I can use that freaky lizard vision thing to spot the wolves.’_

Stiles raised an eyebrow and he asked, _‘Do you have thermal vision?’_

Jackson shrugged, _‘We can test it flying over the preserve.’_

Stiles nodded, “We’ll go out for a few hours and see if we can spot him.”

Noah nodded and reminded his son, “Make sure you keep control of your shadows. The last thing we need is for a hunter to spot you, especially with the Argents in town.”

Stiles saluted and he grabbed Jackson’s hand and led him to the vacant house, the easiest way to the preserve from the cavern, without being spotted, was through the trees in the backyard of the vacant house. He had considered extending a tunnel into the preserve from the house they were living in, but he’d never got around to it.

When they reached the house he hugged Jackson close and wrapped his shadows around them both. Jackson breathed, “Wow.” 

They could see out but he could see how others would find it difficult to see them. He saw Stiles' eyes glowing ethereal green and he let his eyes glow so he could see more in the darkness. Stiles again grabbed his hands and interlaced their fingers as they left the house and ran across the yard into the preserve. 

As soon as they reached the small clearing through the trees Stiles stripped off and dropped his clothes and amulet beneath a warded bush before he moved to the center of the clearing and shifted. He snarked, _‘I’m gonna need to clear some trees, I’m almost too big to fit.’_

Jackson asked, “How do you want me to sit?”

Stiles considered it and he said, _‘Hold onto my neck and dangle your legs either side in front of my shoulders. Make sure you’re forward of my shoulder blades so you don't affect my wing movement.’_

Jackson shifted to his beta shift and climbed up Stiles foreleg, the lizard shift making it easier by giving his hands more grip, just like a lizard.

They spent a few hours searching and spotted Peter and Ralph a few times, but there was no sign of Derek anywhere. They did spot human heat signatures at the Hale house ruins, which Jackson reported to Noah by text. Danny reported that there was no sign of Derek at his place and he was searching nearby to see if he was hiding out somewhere close.

Jackson suggested he stay home just in case Derek turned up overnight and he and Stiles flew back to the house to coordinate with Peter and Ralph and to see if they found anything.

The boys let Peter know what they had found when they got back to the house. Noah confirmed that a few strangers were found around the Hale house and they were arrested for trespass and let go with a warning by the deputies Noah sent in.

Peter scowled, “We lost his scent and there was a faint trace of wolfsbane and gunpowder where he vanished from. I’ve tried reaching out through the pack bond to track him or even feel if he’s in pain but I can’t feel beyond the basic feeling that he’s alive.”

“Guilt,” Stiles admitted sadly. He’s still blaming himself for the loss of your original pack and no matter how much we’ve done to try and convince him, he still feels that he doesn’t deserve to be pack.”

Noah said, “We can search more in the morning. Let’s get these reports sent off, then get some sleep.”

Stiles got settled at his clean laptop and using every method he could think of to stay anonymous he sent off the evidence files to the anonymous tip line for each of the areas the fires occurred in. He also cc’ed in the local DA for each fire in the hope that they would prevent it from being swept under the carpet. Once that was done he found the master file and he sent it off to his godfather, Special Agent Seeley Booth of the FBI, and then a second email with the master file to his Grandpa Gajos. He left a note in the last file to say he had reported it to local law enforcement and asked for time to deal with the hunters before he sent in the cavalry. He signed the note, ‘Mischief’ knowing his grandfather would know its origin regardless of the anonymous email.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I write for fun and escapism what you see is what you get. Thanks for reading my brainchild I hope you’re enjoying it.
> 
> Check out my Every Fandom Reverse Bang Story: [Hunter’s Moon](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28849638)
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr: [HarleyJQuinWrites.tumblr.com](https://harleyjquinwrites.tumblr.com/)  
> Or Discord: [Pigtails and Pens Discord](https://discord.gg/UVqY8HCJsW)


	12. Chapter Twelve

**February 27th, 2011**

They spent most of Sunday searching around where Peter and Ralph lost the scent, and apart from slight traces of wolfsbane, there was no sign of Derek. Stiles was tempted to ask Scott if he had seen Derek, but he wasn’t interested in the rant that would follow. The rest of the day was spent training Danny in control so he would have no issues when they returned to school the next day. The new beta had fun testing his new agility out on the training golems and he was looking forward to meeting Stiles’ trainer to learn how to use his new wolfy strength in his fighting.

Stiles again found Jackson wrapped around him on Sunday morning and he murmured, “You should just sleep up here instead of sneaking through the house in the middle of the night.”

Jackson shrugged, he liked the idea but he was worried about what the sheriff would think. 

That night when they were done searching Stiles handed over amulets to each of the pack members including his dad. He had made amulets for each of them that would keep the scent of their wolf hidden, the one for his father would keep the scent of the pack hidden except to those in the pack. Once he had handed them all out he commented, “Peter I have that book you brought and I will experiment with the rune clusters once we have found Derek. There are some clusters in there I want to experiment with.”

They spent a few hours brainstorming further search areas, but also who Peter and Ralph could reach out to in the morning while the teens were at school. They didn’t think Derek had left the territory but they didn’t want to rule it out.

As they were heading to bed Noah commented, “Jackson, just head up with Stiles.”

Stiles turned and he asked, “Are you sure?”

Noah nodded, “I don’t sleep deep enough to miss someone creeping through the house. We all know that he will end up in your bed or you in his. Just… activate the silencing rune on your room if you get up to any shenanigans. I don’t want to hear it.”

Once the boys were out of hearing range Peter asked, “Aren’t you worried? They’re both underage.”

Noah shook his head, “Not really. Look, they’re bonded, we both know that bonding is for life even if the timing was accidental. I know you heard what I said to Jackson about Claudia’s warning, accepting the bond is part of that. I would put money on the fact they will take things slow though, almost glacial knowing Stiles. He’ll want to be sure about Jackson before they take things further. If things start looking serious we can look into getting them legally married.”

Peter nodded, “It would give them a measure of protection. I know it’s been done in a few packs where wolves have found their mates early.”

Noah smirked, “If anyone was going to bond to their mate early, it would be my son. King of the curveballs.” 

Peter laughed as he headed to bed. Danny had opted to stay at home again, just in case Derek showed up, and Ralph had left earlier for his apartment as he had a few early meetings in the morning.

When they were settled Jackson, mindful of the fact that Stiles hadn’t set the silencing rune, asked silently, _‘Shenanigans?’_

Stiles chuckled quietly and he replied, _‘He thinks we are going to be bonking like bunnies because we are bonded.’_

Jackson grinned, _‘Well that’s definitely on the table but I would rather take it slow even if the bond makes it a done deal. Hell, a week ago we were rivals.’_

Stiles nodded, _‘Slow is good. I don’t want to cause any trouble with Dad since we are both underage.’_

Jackson agreed, _‘Oh yeah, I forgot about that.’_

Stiles asked hesitantly, _‘What about school? Did you want to keep our relationship a secret?’_

Jackson shook his head, _‘No.’_ He grinned, _‘Think about it, can you imagine how much it’ll upset McCall and Lydia when they see us together.’_

Stiles suggested, _‘They are always together between classes, we could listen out for them and make out in front of your locker when we hear them coming.’_

Jackson nodded, _‘Or we could just make out and blow the entire school’s minds.’_

Stiles raised his eyebrows, _‘The entire school? Like they’ll care. Honestly, I kind of like the idea of Lydia and Scott seeing us before the school gossip mill tells them. I mean it’ll be explosive.’_

Jackson nodded, _‘Ok, we can wait at my locker with Danny, why not your locker?’_

Stiles gave him a blank look and he said, _‘Yours is closer to Lydia and Allison’s lockers.’_

They snuggled in with a few quiet kisses and Stiles started to rumble in contentment.

Jackson asked, _‘Are you… purring?’_

Stiles blushed as he shook his head, _‘It’s a dragon thing, it’s not a purr, but, yeah, they sound similar.’_

Jackson tried to stifle his laughing as Stiles tickled him in revenge before they settled in for sleep. Both of them were worried about Derek as he hadn’t been in the best mindset when he disappeared.

-x-

They met up with Danny by the Porsche when they arrived at school and they both silently asked with a raised eyebrow if he had seen Derek and they were both gutted at the shake of the head from the teen. They quietly let Danny know of their plan to rile Lydia and Scott so he could be ready to watch their backs.

Danny was quietly planning to record their reactions for the boys to watch later. It wouldn’t be hard to fake being on his phone when the group entered the hallway.

They stopped by Stiles’ locker to pick up his books for first period before they walked to Danny and Jackson’s lockers which were side by side. 

Danny looked Stiles up and down and he waved at Stiles’ outfit and he asked, “A product of your shopping trip last week?”

“Shopping torture,” Stiles grumbled from where he was standing, he was wearing dark blue skinny jeans, one of his typical graphic tee’s but 3 sizes smaller than usual so it was only slightly baggy on him, and a red hoodie to top it off. “Jackson has another one planned so we can figure out what I feel comfortable wearing.”

Danny grinned as he heard Lydia talking from the main doors and he whispered, “Showtime.” He lifted his phone and pretended to be playing on it as he started recording as Jackson made his move.

The corridors were teeming with students trying to get to their lockers before the bell which was slowing Lydia and Scott’s progress, they could hear Allison with them but due to Lydia not letting her get a word in edgewise she was harder to hear.

Jackson closed his locker with a snap and he crowded into Stiles' space and with a grin, he kissed Stiles hard against the locker caging him in. They both were lost in each other fairly quickly so didn’t notice the silence descend on the hallway as people watched gobsmacked as straight-as-a-board Jackson Whittemore was making out with the guy who’d had had a crush on his ex-girlfriend since forever.

“JACKSON!” Lydia shrieked as she saw Jackson making out with someone by his locker. “What the hell are you doing?”

Jackson broke the kiss but rested his forehead on Stiles’ as they caught their breath before they turned to face the oncoming storm that was one pissed off Lydia Martin.

Jackson drawled, “I was enjoying making out with my boyfriend until you started shrieking like a demented harpy.”

“Stiles?” Scott asked incredulously, “My Stiles… is your boyfriend?”

Stiles snarled, “I’m not yours. I stopped being yours in any way when you decided that lying to get what you wanted was more important than our friendship.”

Jackson hadn’t stepped back so Stiles hid his face in Jackson's shoulder as Jackson snarled, “What is your damage, McCall?”

Lydia snapped, “He’s not your boyfriend, you’re mine!”

Danny snarked, “He kicked your cheating ass to the curb last week. Remember?”

Stiles chuckled from where he was still plastered to Jackson and he very deliberately looked at Lydia in the eyes as he licked Jackson up the side of his face before he said, “I licked him, that means he’s mine.”

Jackson silently demanded, _‘What the fuck?’_ As he looked at Stiles.

Stiles grabbed his chin and directed him to look at Lydia who was shaking in rage. Jackson looked at her with a raised eyebrow and he drawled, “You were saying, Lydia?”

Lydia stomped her foot and she demanded, “You’re mine, your parents agreed we make the perfect couple. How do you think they’ll react to the news you’re fucking the school spaz.”

Jackson shrugged, “They’ll probably finally disown me.”

Stiles murmured loud enough for those close to them to hear, “I’ll be your sugar daddy, Babe.”

Jackson leaned in to give him a searing kiss as Lydia raged beside them. He pulled back and he snarked, “Feel free to tell my parents, we both know they think you’re the kid they should’ve adopted.”

Jackson interlaced his fingers with Stiles and they walked away from the raging redhead and the silent couple beside her as they headed to first period.

Scott tried to bail Stiles up outside the classroom after second period, but Danny dragged him away before Scott could start in on the rant he obviously had prepared.

“Thanks,” Stiles murmured as they walked to the cafeteria, “He’s acting as if I jilted him.”

Danny agreed, “It’s a bit weird. But then I always thought your friendship was a bit weird.”

Stiles smiled sadly, “Jackson called it lopsided. Dad agreed.”

Danny nodded his agreement, “That’s a good description for it. Why are you so angry with him anyway? I asked Jackson but he refused to say.”

Stiles sighed, “What’s the biggest rule of the bro code?”

Danny said, “Don’t hit on your bro’s girlfriend, boyfriend, or crush.”

“Exactly!” Stiles exclaimed, “Yet he made out with Lydia in Coach’s office after telling me he was going to talk to her to find out if she liked me.”

Danny raised his eyebrows and he exclaimed, “That’s a total dick move. Especially since he knew Lydia was with Jackson at the time.”

Stiles huffed as they sat at their table, “They both came to the field for practice wearing the same shade of lipstick, and didn’t even try to hide it.”

Jackson sat down beside Stiles and he snarled, “She never did. I guess she thought the threat of disownment would keep me under her control.”

Stiles moved to sit in Jackson’s lap and he said silently, _‘I meant it, if they disown you we can get Peter to take over your guardianship and you can move in with us, officially I mean. I have enough money to support you, trust me.’_

Jackson snuggled into Stiles and he said, _‘I want to talk to Peter after school, get the ball rolling before any disownment happens.’_

They looked up when they heard Mr. Harris drawl, “Mr. Stilinski, would you please stop molesting Mr. Whittemore.”

Lydia was standing behind Mr. Harris looking smug and determined, they looked around and saw a few other couples sitting the same way but they were the only gay couple.

Danny asked, “I just want to be clear, is it because they are two guys that you are demanding Stiles get off Jackson’s lap, or is it because it’s Stiles. I mean you’ve always held a grudge against him. To the rest of us, it's like you're trying to take your grudge against the Sheriff of Beacon County out on his son.”

Mr. Harris went red and ignoring Danny he snapped, “It’s disgusting behavior and you both need to stop.”

Stiles raised an eyebrow in challenge and he asked, “Am I not allowed to support my boyfriend? Am I not allowed to give him comfort while his ex is going out of her way to be a raging harpy about our relationship. She is sitting at the other end of the table making constant threats about speaking to his adoptive parents so they can force us to break up or else they'll disown him.”

Mike, one of the other players on the lacrosse team asked, “Will you be asking the other couples who are sitting the same way to stop?”

The couple looked around and they noticed that several other couples had moved to mimic them in support. 

When Mr Harris was still glaring at Stiles without saying anything Mike prompted, “Well? Will you be making this a rule for everyone or just the gay couple?”

Jackson said privately, _‘Remind me to thank Mike later, he’s a badass.’_

They heard gasps from around the cafeteria as the students realized that he was picking on the only gay couple in the room. Danny looked around and saw a few of the students had their phones out and he called out, “If someone has footage of this conversation can I get a copy, please.” He knew Peter and Noah would both want a copy so they could discuss the discrimination with the principal.

Stiles slid off Jackson’s lap in the hope that Mr. Harris would go away and they watched as those recording on their phones filmed him leaving the room without saying a word to any of the other couples. Danny’s phone started to beep like crazy as those who knew him emailed him the footage they had from their phones of the incident.

Scott said snidely, “He’s not wrong. You shouldn’t be flaunting your cheating like that. It’s disrespectful to Lydia, you know, his actual girlfriend.”

Jackson stood and he snarled, “Look you insignificant peasant, Lydia is not, and will never again be my girlfriend. I can name at least five other guys in this cafeteria that she’s fucked while dating me. I deserve better, and you know what, I have better.” He held his hand out to Stiles who picked up his backpack and laced their fingers together as they left the cafeteria.

Danny waited until they were out of earshot before he stood and got in Lydia’s face, “Back off, he is past caring about you or those waste of adults that call themselves his parents. Don’t you think you’ve hurt him enough?”

As he was walking away he heard Lydia hiss, “He’s mine.”

-x-

On the drive home after school, the boys had been discussing the texts Jackson had started to receive from his parents. They were ordering him to come home rather than stay with friends for the night as they needed to have a family discussion. Jackson chose to ignore the texts and the order to go home muttering, “Fuck that for a joke,” as he put the phone on silent mode and shoved it back into his pocket. 

When they arrived at the Stilinski house they found an unfamiliar car in the driveway with the cruiser. Stiles hissed, “Stay behind me,” as they walked into the house.

He froze as they entered the living room before he yelled, “Uncle Booth!” He turned to his friends, “Guys, this is Special Agent Seeley Booth, for the love of kittens call him Agent Booth or just Booth.” He stage whispered, “He shot the last guy who called him Seeley.”

Booth blushed bright red, as he knew it was true as Noah barked, “Stiles!”

Danny murmured, “That was quick.”

Stiles looked around the room and saw that both Peter and Ralph were present which had him on edge, so he demanded, “What’s going on?”

Booth smirked at the look on Stiles’ face and he said, “Well I got your report on Sunday morning and took it straight to the deputy director. He’s assigned me as a liaison to one of the specialist teams who’ll be working the case. They’ll be arriving tomorrow, once they have all the files from the various police departments.”

“Specialist team,” Stiles commented, “Because that doesn’t sound deliberately vague.”

Peter rolled his eyes and he said, “It’s a supernatural task force. They deal with feral creatures attacking humans, and hunters going rogue. They have been trying to nail Kate for years but have been held back by a lack of evidence.”

Stiles glared at his dad as Danny and Jackson slunk around him to settle on the sofa, “Does he know?” Stiles demanded angrily.

Noah shook his head, “No, Stiles. He’s not pack.”

Peter cleared his throat and he corrected, “Actually if he’s Stiles’ godfather then technically he kind of is. Pack I mean. He’s part of your family, which makes him pack by default. He just has to consent to the pack bond to make it official.”

Booth asked, “Just like that?”

Peter nodded, “Noah trusts you enough to make you Stiles’ godfather, so we would trust you to be pack. So yes, just like that.”

Booth asked, “Is that something you want Stiles?”

Stiles nodded, “As long as it includes Parker.”

Booth saw the confused expression on Peter’s face, and he explained, “Parker is my 10-year-old son, he lives with his mother most of the time, but I see him during the holidays. Ok, so what do I need to do to join the pack?”

Peter and Ralph took him through the vow that a human could use to join the pack without the bite while the boys went downstairs to do their homework in the library. They figured the sooner they got it done, the sooner they could go out searching for Derek.

Booth was pissed when he found out Derek had been taken, he agreed with Noah and Peter that one of the bordering packs would have found him by now if he had run. He also agreed that a wolf wouldn’t run away from their last remaining family member.

The adults spent the evening taking Booth through what they had found on the fires, via both legal and not so legal means. He was impressed with their thoroughness, and he would be using some of the information on the wall to steer the investigation.

He noticed the yarn connecting parts on the board were different colors so he asked, “What’s with the colors?”

Stiles smirked, “They’re just different stages of the investigation. So green is confirmed, yellow is to be determined, red is rumors and conjecture,” He glanced at Jackson, “And blue’s just pretty.”

When they were done exploring, Booth asked quietly, “What was the big secret, the one that’s locked down to pack?”

Noah asked Stiles, “Kiddo, do you want to do your big reveal?” He saw the evil grin on Stiles' face and he held up his hands when he realized his mistake, and he hurriedly said, “Ok, ok, not that big.”

Stiles shifted into his beta form. and he let his godfather have a close look at the horns, spikes, and scales that were part of his beta shift.

Booth was amazed and he asked, “I haven’t seen this shift before, what are you?”

Noah shrugged, “You won’t have. He’s a dragon shifter. Dragon shifters were hunted into extinction slowly over the last 100 years. Claudia was the last of her family and she was born a human.”

Booth frowned as he said, “But the legends say dragons were one of the hardest to kill.”

Stiles said darkly, “They blew up the house while everyone was asleep. It’s why I have every fireproof ward possible on the house. Mom was away on a field trip when they did it. She came home and when she found the ruins she went to her dad’s best friend, he formally adopted her to help her hide then he sent her to the USA.” 

Noah asked, “Are you going to do an aerial search tonight? It’s cloudy enough.”

Stiles nodded, “Jackson’s keen. You could bring Uncle Booth so he can see my full shift.”

Booth grinned, “Yes! This I have to see! Is your full shift form bigger?”

Noah laughed and refused to answer as he led his friend to the vacant house and through the backyard into the preserve. Stiles placed his clothing and amulet under the handy bush, it was warded to keep everything dry and hidden from prying eyes and thieving rodents.

Stiles shifted and let loose his form as Jackson stood behind him and shifted into his beta shift complete with his tail. He’d worked out he could use his tail to hold on to the spines on Stiles’ back to stay balanced while they were searching.

Booth staggered back a bit when he saw the huge dragon in front of him and he exclaimed, “Holy fuck!”

When Stiles took off he delayed wrapping himself in the shadows for a few seconds so his godfather could see him airborne before he left the clearing shrouded in darkness to search the preserve once more.

Booth grinned at his friend and he said, “He’s awesome! I can see why you need clouds for him to fly. Let’s go inside and you can catch me up on everything I’ve missed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I write for fun and escapism what you see is what you get. Thanks for reading my brainchild I hope you’re enjoying it.
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr: [HarleyJQuinWrites.tumblr.com](https://harleyjquinwrites.tumblr.com/)  
> Or Discord: [Pigtails and Pens Discord](https://discord.gg/UVqY8HCJsW)


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings for injuries to the bad guys. Karma's a bitch.

**February 27th, 2011**

Over the week the teens split their time between searching for Derek, homework, training, and watching the investigation into Kate Argent. Danny and Stiles spent their time bringing Peter, Jackson, and Ralph up to speed on their martial arts training, and Peter, with help from Ralph, taught them all the more traditional wolf fighting techniques using strength and claws.

Stiles and Jackson also made sure they went out of their way to be the cutest new couple of the school, and with Danny’s help, they were often caught making out exactly where Lydia or Scott would be at any given moment. Scott would often drag her and Allison away before Lydia could out herself as a complete harpy yet again.

Jackson had a few more texts from his parents as they got more demanding about the requests to go home, a few even mentioned their disappointment in his breakup with Lydia and their expectation that he would fix it. 

Danny had spoken to his parents, as they were well aware of the difficult relationship Jackson had with his adoptive parents. They were happy for him to stay with Jackson at the Stilinski house, especially while he needed the support, but they followed up with a call to the sheriff who confirmed he was happy for Danny to stay with them while Jackson needed his best friend. While on the call he let them know about Jackson’s relationship with his son and how Danny was a huge support for them both, and he explained that they were getting a bit of backlash from Lydia and others from her clique at the school as well as a few of the teachers for being an out gay couple.

-x-

On Tuesday after school, Jackson took Stiles to pick up his Jeep. It had taken a while for the parts to arrive to get it working again after Peter had ripped through the hood to remove the battery. When they arrived home Stiles stalked into the library, as it was where Peter could usually be found when he wasn’t out searching for his nephew, and he handed over the invoice for the repairs.

Peter glanced at the piece of paper before he asked, “What’s this?”

“It’s the invoice for the repairs on Roscoe,” Stiles snapped, “The repairs you’ll be paying for since I only needed them because of you.”

Peter nodded, he knew the jeep had been Claudia’s and held sentimental value. “Is it fully repaired or does it need more work?”

Stiles shook his head, “It’s fine… now.”

Peter nodded, “I’ll go see them on Monday, I need to get Adam to check my cars over anyway, he’s the only mechanic I trust with my collection, especially the Shelbys. They’ve all been in storage for six years.”

-x-

The FBI had been able to find evidence of payments going to each of the people killed earlier in the year in the animal attacks, they were just working on finding the evidence that would tie Kate to the payments.

They were also hunting down the survivors from the fires for interviews, most had been absorbed into neighboring or allied packs and adopted, making tracking them difficult. They had interviewed Brett Talbot, under the supervision of his alpha, and it painted a grim picture of what they could expect from the others she targeted.

Peter had also privately given a formal statement to Agent Booth. He’d clarified what he had heard Kate and her accomplices saying from where he had collapsed while the house was burning. As far as they could tell, Peter was the only wolf to survive the burning houses, and that was due to a combination of luck, and the fact that where he’d tried to access the house, the hunters couldn’t see him, when they eventually searched around the house looking for anyone escaping, they’d missed him as he had been hidden under one of the collapsed outer walls. In all the other fires, anyone found outside the houses had been found shot with wolfsbane bullets and were dead by the time they were found by the firemen.

The case ended up being a lot bigger than any of the FBI task force had ever dealt with before, especially as they were a fairly new unit, so they were relying a lot on Agent Booth’s experience as the SSA of the Major Case team in Washington to lead them through the investigation. 

He had split the taskforce up into specialist teams, he assigned their strongest interrogators to weed out those who had taken bribes in the police departments, starting with interviewing all the staff in Beacon Hills who had been working in the department at the time of the fire, he was hoping one of them would be willing to tell them who was paying the bribes. He also had a gut feeling some were helping the Argent’s due to blackmail rather than bribes and he hoped they would be easier to crack.

He had a couple of agents the unit had stolen from the White Collar Crime Unit who were tasked with chasing down financials, starting with those who died in the animal attacks in January, before branching out to those suspected of taking bribes.

The rest of the agents were working on tracking Kate Argent’s movements and the aliases she was using in each town, as well as tracking down proof of foul play in each of the fires. It was a big job, but he wanted to get justice for the victims.

-x-

On Friday just after lunch, Stiles, Jackson, and Danny came sprinting into the station, they were all looking livid. Booth grabbed them and pushed them into Noah’s office as they were all struggling to keep their creatures under control. 

Noah looked up at his unusually angry son and he demanded, “What’s going on, why aren’t you at school?”

They all chorused, “We know where Derek is.”

“How?” Noah demanded as Booth asked, “Where?”

The boys all started talking over each other and Noah held his hand up and he barked, “One at a time.” He looked over at the boys and seeing that Danny seemed calmer, he asked, “Danny, can you tell us what you know? Please.”

Danny shrugged and he said, “We were sitting in the cafeteria at lunch and we overheard Scott, Lydia, and Allison talking. Allison’s been unusually quiet all week and Stiles happened to hear her mention Derek. He whispered for us all to listen in, and it was bad, Sir. Kate apparently took her to where she’s holding Derek, they’re in the tunnels under the old Hale House in the preserve. Allison wanted to report her to someone, as Kate was getting off on torturing Derek. But Scott and Lydia talked her out of it, Scott said he was the guy that killed the janitor at the school, no matter what the deputies said, and Lydia backed him up saying they’re just kids, why should they get involved.”

“Fuck!” Noah exclaimed. “Booth? The land recently returned to the ownership of the Hales, so you should be able to get permission from Peter to enter the property without a warrant to search the tunnels.”

Jackson suggested, “Why don’t you ask Peter for a map of the tunnels that are accessible from the house. He will be able to point out possible exits and where she could be holding Derek.”

Noah picked up his phone and called Peter who promised to send Ralph with the maps but he asked to be kept updated in return. He promised he wouldn’t go hunting for Kate, and he would let the FBI do its thing. He decided the pack would patrol the preserve to catch any wandering hunters while the FBI teams were storming the ruins.

The boys turned up at home an hour later, Noah had called the school to sign them out, he said they were assisting in an FBI investigation. He didn’t want to risk them picking a fight with Scotty over his attitude toward the Hales.

Ralph was keeping the pack updated on the FBI’s plans for the raid on the ruins, they were going to raid under the cover of darkness in the hope of capturing more of her hunters as they guarded the tunnels.

Stiles grinned, “Wicked, we can watch the preserve from above and guide you all to the hunters as they flee through the preserve.”

Danny asked, “Do we have a way to communicate?”

Stiles nodded, “There is some communications equipment in the workshop, earbuds and throat mics. I have been working on enhancing them with runes.”

Peter asked, “Enhance how, Stiles?”

Stiles shrugged, “Longer range, clarity, privacy, and tracking. I started with the throat mics I got from Dad’s supplier and they should cope with your beta shifts.”

Peter wondered, “Can they piggyback on the FBI network, so we can listen in?”

Stiles walked to the workshop and he had a look through the rune book he was working from, the pack followed him, curious what he had been working on. “It should be possible. One of you will have to get close to one of the agents so the comms can hook into the signal.”

Jackson saw the coats they had bought hanging on one of the walls and he asked, “Are the coats done?”

Stiles nodded, “Mostly yeah, I picked up a few more when I picked up my Jeep from the mechanic. I had them modify ours slightly so they would have room for our tails. They all have runes to protect us from bullets and claws, and a rune inside the hood to give us privacy by hiding our faces when the hood is up. Also, there’s a thin layer of scales sewn into the inside over the chest and back for added protection.” 

He handed black coats to Danny and Peter as he said apologetically, “I had to guess with your sizes, so let me know if they need adjusting. Dixie said she would be happy to alter them for us. There are some trousers here I am still playing with if you want to see if I have something that fits you, they all have the same protection runes.”

Peter moved forward to see if there was a pair of leather pants in his size. He knew from experience they were comfortable for fighting in and the runes would be great up against hunters.

Stiles suggested, “Why don’t you guys go spar and break in the leather while I work on the runes on the comms we’ll be using so we can piggyback off the FBI systems tonight.”

Ralph turned up at dusk to update the pack on what he couldn’t say over the phone. The agents were fairly positive Derek was at the house, especially when they did a background check on the two men who were arrested for trespassing at the Hale house, they showed they both had work history with Argent Arms. 

While he was there Stiles handed over a two-way earbud he had etched just for him, it was barely noticeable, so he would be able to stay in touch with the pack while they were patrolling the preserve, as well as being close enough to piggyback off the FBI systems during the raid. He had arranged to represent the interests of the Hale family and he would be with Noah in the FBI comms center while the agents were searching for Derek.

Stiles packed a backpack with his clothes, comms, and snacks as he was often hungry after shifting. Jackson had agreed to carry it in case he needed to shift back while they were patrolling. He also packed some spare clothes for Derek just in case.

As soon as it was dark enough Stiles and Jackson headed out and started flying overhead, they could see the FBI teams getting ready on the edge of the preserve and they watched them head to the house as a few smaller teams were heading for the most common exit tunnels. Jackson was reporting their locations to Peter and Danny, as the pair on the ground moved around the preserve.

“There are traps here,” Peter reported, “Hunter’s traps, it looks like flashbangs and…”

Danny furiously said, “It’s a fucking flamethrower. She’s booby-trapped the woods to burn Derek if he tries to escape.”

Jackson muttered, “Fucking hell, the bitch just can’t fucking help herself.”

Stiles agreed, _‘Can you let Peter know we are coming, I want to see if you can pick up a heat signature from the trap.’_

Jackson relayed the information and Peter and Danny moved to either side of it to make it easier for Jackson to find from the air.

“There is a small heat signature from it,” Jackson confirmed. He looked around the area, and gaped, “There are at least 15 traps around you both. Some of the traps have a slightly different heat signature.”

Peter snarked, “So she’s armed for bear.” He heard the start of the raid in his earbud and he warned, “Keep an eye out, the FBI have gone in.”

Stiles flew higher and Jackson was keeping him updated using their telepathy on how the raid was going. Stunned, he commented, _‘Allison was with Kate, she surrendered when the FBI stormed in but Kate ran with a few hunters. They got Derek out, he’s being assessed by the team's medic and they said he’s healing well.’_

Stiles rolled his eyes as he flew over the house and saw a few hunters fleeing. Jackson fed their location to Ralph as Stiles commented, _‘Five bucks says Scott blames us for her being arrested.’_

Jackson laughed, _‘Suckers bet.’_

Danny heard the unexpected laughter over the comms and he asked, “What’s so funny?”

Jackson relayed, “Stiles bet five bucks that Scott will probably blame us for Allison being arrested.”

Peter and Danny chuckled quietly and they both agreed, “Suckers bet.”

Jackson saw three heat signatures emerge not far from Peter and Danny’s position and he warned, “You have three incoming, let me know if you need us.”

Stiles flew lower and he said, _‘I have a bad feeling about this.’_

Jackson agreed and he maneuvered so he would be able to dismount quickly if they needed help. Stiles warned, _‘That’s definitely Kate, and she has two hunters with her but I am not sure who they are.’_

Jackson took a closer look, _‘I don’t recognize either of them. They definitely aren’t locals.’_

Jackson carefully passed down the backpack so Stiles could hold it in his front claws as he prepared to join the fight. 

They watched the hunters advance on Peter and Danny’s position with their guns raised.

Peter roared at the hunters and moved before their shots would hit as they all fired wildly into the trees. Peter and Danny had arranged that Peter would engage the hunters and Danny would work as a distraction by running full speed past lashing out with his claws at whatever he could reach without being shot. Peter’s main goal would be to attack them in close quarters so they couldn’t shoot him. 

Kate stated absently, “I was so sure I killed you, Sweetie. Der-Bear did say you would be home that night.”

Peter chuckled as he swiped at the man she was with, “I was running late, so sorry I missed you.”

Kate snarled, “I’ll just have to try harder.” She raised her gun but Danny ran in behind her and swiped his claws down her back.

She screamed as the claws stung and she spun to try and shoot him, but he was too fast and already hidden in the trees. She screamed, “You’ll all die. Beasts like you don’t deserve to live.”

Peter shook his head, he knew there was no arguing with crazy. He muttered, “Not my circus, not my monkeys.”  
  
Jackson saw one of the hunters had circled around through the trees and was making his way to Danny to take him by surprise. He pointed him out to Stiles so he could swoop lower over the hunter’s head. 

Jackson had his tail dripping with venom as he leaped from Stiles back, he’d timed the jump to land on the hunter before he could shoot Danny. A quick scratch from the claw at the end of his tail and the hunter was down, fortunately, he knocked himself out on a tree as he collapsed. Jackson let Ralph know that one of the hunters was down and that they were engaging with Kate and another hunter.

Peter told Jackson to guard the tunnel, just in case other hunters tried to use it to escape or ambush them. The teen agreed and not so gently dragged the hunter to the tunnel entrance he had emerged from, and he stood guard for any others trying to escape out the same tunnel. 

He heard the flashbang trigger and saw the flash through the trees as Stiles started swearing like a sailor in his head, Stiles was yelling in his head, _‘Tell them to drop flat to the ground. NOW!’_

Jackson relayed the instruction urgently through the comms and he hoped they had followed it. He heard the roar as Stiles charged them, then the _‘whoomph’_ noise that accompanied Stiles’ flame. He was already running to where he could hear Peter whimpering on the ground.

Danny was curled around Peter in comfort and protection, as the alpha hadn’t reacted well to the flames. Danny had to admit, even half-blinded by the flash, that seeing Stiles swoop in with his flames to protect them when Kate had been about to shoot them both was awe-inspiring. 

Stiles was dressed by the time Jackson arrived from the tunnel entrance, Danny snarked, “He checked the hunters were knocked out and disarmed before he got dressed. It was quite a show.” Jackson checked on Peter and Danny who were still sitting on the ground, they were both fine but blinking the dots out of their vision from the flashbang trap that had triggered. 

They all looked up as he saw Stiles was stalking toward the downed hunters, who were both twitching on the ground in pain.

Jackson asked, “What happened?”

Stiles pointed at the hunter that was with Kate and he angrily said, “That dumbass triggered one of the flashbang traps. Kate was about to use the distraction to shoot them both, hence the hunter flambé.

Peter stood and he wrinkled his nose at the smell, the two hunters on the ground were looking quite crispy as a result of being caught in Stiles’ flame, “Lovely, we need to call this in but first I need to remove their memories of Stiles.”

Stiles asked, “How?”

Peter flicked out his claws and he looked smug as he said, “It’s an alpha ability. Alpha’s can remove and modify memories by inserting their claws in the back of the neck.”

Danny asked, “Won’t the wounds be questioned?”

Stiles shook his head, “Healing magic isn’t my specialty but I should be able to heal them enough to hide them.”

Peter asked, “What about the other hunter?”

Jackson shook his head, “He knocked himself out on a tree when he collapsed.” He snarked silently to Stiles, ‘I might’ve also dragged him over every rock and tree root I could find on the way to the tunnel.’

Stiles had to turn his head so Peter didn’t see the grin on his face as he snarked back, ‘Stop trying to make me laugh you asshole.’

Stiles couldn’t get rid of the grin on his face, so he took the time to compose himself by inspecting the flame thrower trap closest to the injured hunters. He tried to get a good look without touching it, as he didn’t want to leave evidence behind. After getting a good look at the device and its trigger mechanism, he commented, “It looks like my flame set this one-off. Hopefully, they can use the others to figure out who set them. The accelerant from this one should be in their wounds so there will be evidence in their wounds already.”

Peter got busy modifying the memories of the hunters, he changed their memories so the disorientation of the flashbang knocked Kate into the trigger for the flamethrower trap. He was so very tempted to use his claws on Kate to rip out her throat but he felt the hand on his wrist as Danny stopped him. He murmured, “She’ll live, but without supernatural healing, she’ll suffer the pain of all of her victims. Those are some serious burns and I doubt she’ll ever be able to use her hands again.”

The alpha spent more time working on Kate, adding in memories of her attacking and killing her accomplices in the Hale fire, he left the impression that she wanted to kill the witnesses before they could confess to one of the surviving Hales.

Once he indicated he was done, Stiles moved in and he healed the entry wounds on their necks, as Jackson called Agent Booth. “Agent Booth. We have two hunters that got caught in one of the flamethrower traps they have set through the preserve. I’ll send you the coordinates, just be careful, the preserve is riddled with triggers and tripwires.”

Booth promised to send a team in with paramedics, and he confirmed they would be collecting the traps over the next few days as evidence.

Peter saw that Kate had come round from the flame blast and he crouched down so he could whisper, “This is karma, it’s the universe’s way of paying you back for all those innocent packs you’ve burned over the years.”

Kate croaked, “Go to hell!”

Peter grinned as he stood and said, “You first, Sweetheart.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I write for fun and escapism what you see is what you get. Thanks for reading my brainchild I hope you’re enjoying it.
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr: [HarleyJQuinWrites.tumblr.com](https://harleyjquinwrites.tumblr.com/)  
> Or Discord: [Pigtails and Pens Discord](https://discord.gg/UVqY8HCJsW)


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mentions of boobie traps.

**March 4th, 2011**

Danny was waiting by the tunnel entrance, he had a feeling Jackson and Stiles would have more luck stopping Peter if he changed his mind about killing Kate. Although he was laughing to himself as he listened to Peter having fun torturing her with words while she was stuck on the ground with severe burns, at least until Stiles suggested he head home and stay out of the investigator's way.

He turned and watched as a couple of the FBI agents from Agent Booth’s team that he had gotten to know, Dwyer and Berger, came through the tunnel leading a few of the local EMT teams. He pointed at the hunter still out cold on the ground and keeping in mind the EMTs who were not in the know about the supernatural he said, “This one is knocked out and currently under the effects of a paralytic agent. There are two through the trees who got caught in one of their own traps.”

Agent Berger asked, “Do I want to know what type of trap?”

Danny grimaced and he asked the EMT, “Do you have equipment with you for severe burns?”

The EMT nodded, “We were warned by Agent Booth that you had two, erm, I won’t repeat what he called them.”

Danny laughed, “It can’t be worse than what Stiles called them both.”

Agent Berger said with a deadpan tone, “I can just imagine.”

Danny led the way through the trees, warning the group to watch their step as the area was littered with booby traps.

Agent Dwyer asked, “What traps have you found so far?”

Danny listed off, “Flamethrowers and flashbangs, both of those were pressure plate based. There are a few tripwires around, but we didn’t look into what they were triggering.”

Agent Dwyer growled, “Fucking hell. Do they not care that kids use the preserve?”

Danny shook his head, “No… I think as far as they are concerned it’s Hale land so anyone on the land is fair game.”

Danny was sure he heard one of the EMTs mutter, “Fucking hunters.”

When they reached the clearing they saw Stiles and Jackson talking a few steps away from the two injured hunters. The male hunter was still out cold and seemed to be burnt a bit more severely than Kate. 

-x-

Meanwhile, Peter was making his way home, he made his way slowly, taking the time to mark the location of several traps on his maps app. Once he was home, he entered the basement through the vacant house and got comfortable with a book as he waited for the group to return with Derek.

-x-

The EMTs approached and one of them asked, “What first aid have you done?”

Stiles defiantly crossed his arms as he coldly replied, “None.”

The lead EMT narrowed her eyes at him and she demanded, “Why didn’t you offer help? I know Coach Finstock makes you all do a first aid course as part of your lacrosse training.”

Stiles snarked, “You think we should help the people who were shooting at us? They weren’t going to stop until her idiot friend triggered the flame thrower trap. Incidentally, it’s the trap they put here to kill off the last of the Hales, like the one she was torturing in the basement of his ruined home. You know, if he should happen to escape after she kidnapped him.”

The EMT assessing Kate reddened, “Jesus.” He looked at the FBI agents, “Will they be cuffed as they are transported?”

Agent Berger nodded, “Definitely, we will also be accompanying them to the hospital. Ms. Argent is wanted for questioning in several house fires that took out entire families, as well as various sexual offenses.”

The EMTs got to work stabilizing the two patients. The teens could see that the hunter with Kate had taken the brunt of the flamethrower trap and he was unlikely to survive. Kate had severe burns on her arms and hands as she had held them up to protect her face from the flames. Not that it worked, most of her side and the side of her face was burned, and to top it off she was missing most of her hair. Kate was mouthing off abuse at the paramedic, the agents, and the three teens until Agent Dwyer suggested, “Do you have a sedative? She’s going to do herself more damage if she continues to struggle.”

She was swiftly injected with the fast-acting sedative, and the EMTs got to work. Once she was out cold and the burns had been treated, the convoy of agents, EMTs, and the teens slowly made their way back through the tunnels to the command center back at the Hale house ruins. 

The three teens were quick to run to Derek as soon as they saw him so they could check him out for themselves. They wanted to be sure he really was ok, and that he wasn’t seriously injured from being held for nearly a week. They all gave a statement about what happened with the hunters in the preserve, and how Kate was boasting about killing off the last of the Hales and the traitorous humans who hang around them. 

For appearance's sake, Booth gave the three teens a lecture about hanging out in the preserve after dark, especially when they knew there would be an FBI operation going on. Eventually, they were done and he arranged for one of the deputies to take the teens and Derek back to the Stilinski house.

Stiles redirected the deputy to the high school where he had left his Jeep parked. When he went to the station earlier in the day they had all jumped into Jackson’s Porsche. When they were climbing into the Jeep he commented, “It feels like days have passed since we left the school to report what we had overheard.”

Derek said dryly, “No kidding.”

Danny was pressed up against Derek in the backseat to give him the comfort he had been missing over the last week as they drove back to the Stilinski house. He whispered, “You going to be ok?”

Derek nodded, “Honestly, it was like listening to a broken record broken up with electroshock therapy. I thought she was going to talk me to death. Even when she brought Allison in to watch she just kept repeating the same villain monologue. She made it pretty clear, well, interspersed with the crazy, that I was just a means to an end, a convenient scapegoat and I know now the fire was entirely on her.”

Danny hugged him and commented, “From everything I’ve read in the evidence we’ve found, they don’t seem to have the best imaginations.”

Stiles snorted, “They specialize in villain monologues. I mean look at the shit she was spouting while shooting at you guys.”

When they turned the corner to Woodbine Lane Stiles stopped the Jeep, there was an unfamiliar car parked in the driveway of the Stilinski house, and two people waiting on the porch steps. “I don’t know that car. I need to seriously look into proximity wards, the surprises are draining. Derek, Danny, go through the preserve and protect Peter, he’ll be in the basement reading. Don’t come out until I give the all-clear. Jackson, you’re with me.”

Jackson asked, “Shifted?”

Stiles shook his head, “Not unless they’re a threat. I’m going to use the shadows to approach so stay close.”

They all got out of the Jeep quietly and Stiles watched as Derek and Danny escaped through one of their neighbor's backyards. Once he was sure they were out of sight he pulled the shadows in around himself and Jackson and they both made their way silently to the unfamiliar pair on the porch.

Stiles could hear the three coming out of the basement door inside the house so he let the shadows drop when they were standing in the driveway facing the pair who were knocking on the door of the house again. He assumed they had also heard the group moving around inside the house.

Stiles asked politely, “Can I help you?”

The woman was staring at the door as if she could see through it, but the older man with her turned and he said, “No thank you. We’ve got business with Alpha Hale and we were told he lives here.”

He turned his back on Stiles and Jackson and he knocked again on the front door. Stiles saw this as a threat and he shifted to his beta shift and roared loudly in his displeasure at the pair on the porch. Jackson shifted behind him to his beta shift, dropping on all fours and hissing with his claws dripping venom and his tail wrapped around Stiles in preparation for an attack.

The pair on the porch turned in shock at the roar and startled at the horned creature and the lizard shifter wrapped around him.

Peter raced out the door and he held his hands up in front of Stiles and yelled, “Stop, stop, he’s an ally. It’s Deucalion, Alpha Morgan, remember I told you about him.”

Stiles stood and he hissed, “He feels like a threat!”

Jackson looked past the two alphas and he whispered, “Cora?”

She frowned and nodded, “Who are you?”

Jackson shifted back and she demanded, “Jackson?! What the hell happened while I was gone.”

Danny grinned from behind her as he wrapped her in a werewolf tight hug as he snarked, “All the things Lil Bit. All the things.”

Peter snorted as Cora jumped in surprise and he ordered, “Everyone get inside before the neighbors call Noah.”

Derek held the door open and he pulled his sister into a hug as she walked inside. They shuffled their way to the living room as Peter tried to calm Stiles down with help from Jackson.

Peter murmured, “Come on Stiles, trust me, he’s an ally, he brought Cora home.”

Stiles growled, “How did he know? How did he even know to bring her here?”

Deucalion said, “Satomi got in touch to ask if I had seen Cora. She said her pack was looking for her. When I offered to take her home, Satomi told me I would find Alpha Hale here.”

Peter agreed, “Deucalion didn’t get along with Talia, especially not after her inaction led to him being blinded by Gerard Argent, but we’ve been friends for years.”

Stiles shifted back and he agreed, “Fine, I trust you, Alpha. Go hug your niece.”

Peter put his hand on the small of Deucalion’s back to lead him into the house as Jackson and Stiles went back for the Jeep.

When they were out of earshot of the house Jackson murmured, “His wolf is huge. Like double the size of Peter’s and his wolf is bigger than an average wolf.”

Stiles nodded, “He felt like pure threat, cocky too. Although that could be the British accent.”

Jackson grinned, “Definitely the accent.”

They moved the Jeep so it was parked behind Jackson’s Porsche out the front of the house rather than in the drive. That left a spot for Noah’s cruiser when he eventually made it home. Stiles sent him a text as they walked into the house to let him know they had visitors so he wouldn’t be surprised when he got home.

-x-

Back at the sheriff station, they had three hunters that had been arrested at the old Hale House. They had been guarding the ruins to stop anyone walking in on Kate as she taught her niece how to treat a wolf. Unfortunately for Kate, none of them were particularly loyal as she’d had to drag the bottom of the barrel to find those who wouldn’t report her actions to Chris.

Allison had been quiet all the way to the station, her only request was that they help her find her own lawyer, she did not want to use the lawyer her family would provide. When they asked why she stated, “He’ll gag me. Mom will make him stop me from telling you what you need to know. You need to find a way to do interviews with him, then separate interviews with my own lawyer that actually count.”

Agent Dwyer frowned, “You want to help the investigation? Why?”

Allison rolled her eyes, “My aunt is crazy, freaking certified. Do you honestly think I wanted to be there torturing that poor guy? I was there under duress, threats were made against my dad if I told anyone where he was.”

Agent Dwyer grinned, “And yet we found out from you anyway.”

Allison nodded, “I know. Now, will you help me? The only condition I have is that no matter what, my parents can’t find out.”

Agent Dwyer nodded, “I’ll talk to SSA Booth. I’m sure he can work some magic.”

“Thanks,” Allison said with a small smile. A smile that was hidden by the time they arrived at the sheriff’s station and she saw her mother waiting for her.

The interviews with the three hunters went well, and they all sang like canaries. They were quick to give up how Kate had hired them all to be her back up as she targeted the last of the Hale family. The recent death of Laura Hale had made her nervous that someone was uncovering her actions in the Hale fire.

Booth was surprised when the three also backed up the evidence that had been provided showing Kate was responsible for the recent animal attack deaths. If it wasn’t for the fact that he knew Stiles had been flying around the city on patrol and hadn’t met the hunters he would’ve assumed Stiles had used magic to change their memories. He figured she might have taken credit for the attacks with the hunters, so they would believe she was serious about shutting down the investigation into the fire.

-x- 

When Stiles and Jackson entered the living room, they found Derek and Danny wrapped around Cora snuggling her to death, and Peter and Deucalion were leaned in close to each other as they were making small talk on the other side of the room. The two teens could feel Cora’s pack bond singing at reconnecting to her family.

Peter looked up and he asked, “How did the arrest go?”

Stiles laughed, “Anticlimactic, she was still groggy from the sedative when she was formally arrested. I did overhear some muttering from a few of the agents that she wasn’t crispy enough for what she had done.”

Derek asked, “What actually happened? I know they said she was hit by her own trap but I struggle to believe she was that stupid.”

Stiles looked around at anything but Derek trying to look innocent as he blew a few smoke rings, which of course had the others laughing.

Deucalion looked at Stiles in interest and he asked, “Just what exactly are you.”

Stiles raised an eyebrow and he said, “Now that’s a secret.”

Deucalion nodded and he offered, “I can take a secrecy vow if you have an emissary or even a magic user who can seal the vow.”

Peter raised an eyebrow in silent question and Stiles nodded, “I’m not the emissary, but I can seal the vow.”

“Will I need to take one?” Cora asked.

Peter shook his head, “No, yours was sealed by the pack bond. What Deucalion is asking is sealed as a pack secret.”

Peter and Deucalion heatedly negotiated the terms of the vow, and eventually, Deucalion vowed to keep all things learned in Beacon Hills as secrets of the Hale pack, until such a time as they are publicly known. They added a caveat that all information about the abilities of pack members will always be covered by the vow so Deucalion couldn’t be used to confirm any rumors.

Once the vow was sealed Stiles led the group downstairs as they figured it would be easier to show them the crime wall, especially with Deucalion’s position on the Alpha Council.

Stiles started the explanation, “You asked what I am, which is our biggest pack secret. I’m a dragon shifter, a shadow dragon, and the last of my line. My entire family, well except for my mother, were taken out by hunters when she was away on an overnight field trip. She was sent here by a friend of her dad's to keep her safe.” He gestured to the crime wall, “Our other pack secret is the investigation we have been doing into the actions of Kate Argent. She has been taking out entire packs over the last 9 years.”

Before they got started Peter asked, “Cora, I don’t understand what happened to you. Your mother had called me to tell me you wouldn’t be available for our usual dinner at the diner as you were grounded and had been sent to your room, that’s why I stayed late at work that night.”

Cora grinned, “Mom had pissed me off, again,” She rolled her eyes, “I had been trying to tell her about Derek’s secret girlfriend, she told me to stop lying to get attention and she sent me to my room, I didn’t realize she’d called you to cancel our usual dinner. I climbed out my window and hid in the treehouse you built me in the preserve. When I came back to the house it was surrounded by fire trucks so I ran. I felt the last of the pack bonds snap as I was in the middle of the preserve, the only one I had left was yours, but it felt wrong.”

Derek snarled, “Laura cut yours and Peter’s before she took us to New York. She told me you’d died and that Peter would never come out of his coma.”

“Bitch,” Cora muttered, “Where is she?”

Peter rubbed the back of his neck and he said, “I accidentally killed her. No that’s not right, I killed a trespassing alpha not realizing it was Laura. I was still in a coma but as far as we can figure my wolf had been going for runs in the preserve while the human side of me was still asleep. He found Laura wandering in the preserve one night, he must have seen her as a threat and killed her.”

Deucalion asked, “How were you still in a coma? That should be impossible for a wolf.”

“One of the nurses was dosing him with wolfsbane,” Danny explained, “We have video footage of it being added to the lotion that was being rubbed into his burns every day. It was being done by a nurse named Jennifer, we are pretty sure it’s a false name, but she disappeared from the hospital before we could get our hands on her. She ran after the deputies started investigating the digitalis poisoning being done by one of the other nurses.”

Deucalion nodded, “Understandable. If Laura cut your pack bond while you were vulnerable, your wolf likely held a grudge against her for leaving you to be tortured after the fire.”

Peter snarled, “If I had found out the shit she was pulling with Derek I would have challenged her anyway. She had been keeping him completely isolated since the fire.”

Stiles held up a hand to stop Peter’s rant and he said, “So Kate was charged with illegal weapons charges, a count of statutory rape, kidnap, and 21 counts of murder between the Hale and Talbot fires. She was warned that further charges are pending as they investigate her other fires.”

Jackson sneered, “She exercised her right to silence. I am hoping Stiles has something we can drug her with to loosen her tongue a bit.”

Stiles gave him a good look and started to consider the various potion books he had in his library. Peter snapped his fingers in front of his face and he said, “No, not unless she starts to look like she will escape the charges.”

Stiles nodded his agreement and he walked to the wall, “So this is our crime wall… which you can’t see.”

Deucalion flared his alpha eyes and he started to walk along the wall noticing the names of packs that were listed. 

Stiles watched him and he asked, “You can see with your alpha eyes? It’s just your human eyes that are damaged?”

Deucalion nodded and he startled when he looked at Stiles with his alpha eyes and saw the boy for the threat that he was. “I was told by Talia’s emissary that my eyes wouldn’t heal from the damage caused by the flash bangs.”

With a curious look, Stiles asked, “How were you blinded?”

Peter put his hand on Deucalion’s arm to calm him as he explained, “Gerard Argent stabbed him in the eyes with wolfsbane infused flashbangs before setting them off.”

Stiles considered Deucalion and he asked, “What strain? Nordic Blue?”

Deucalion nodded, “Argents are predictable. It’s their favorite strain because it’s one they have cornered the market on.”

Stiles snorted and he left them standing in confusion as he entered his workshop, he walked around and absently pulled a few books off a shelf above an old-style cauldron and started flicking through the pages and reading as he pulled a few jars from the shelves above the books.

Peter asked from the door, “Stiles? What are you doing?”

The teen put the jars down in a specific order before he turned and he said, “See, this is why druids make shit emissaries. They believe that they are the be-all and end-all to magic, that if they can’t fix it no one can. Idiots.” He turned to Deucalion and he explained, “If your wolf eyes can see, but your human eyes can’t, it likely means that there is still some degree of wolfsbane poisoning affecting your eyes.”

Peter browsed through the books Stiles had pulled off the shelf and he asked, “You think you can heal it?”

Stiles nodded and he pointed to the jar with the innocuous flower sitting inside, “That’s nordic blue wolfsbane in its raw form. I grow most strains in my greenhouse in the backyard.”

Peter interrupted, “What greenhouse?”

Jackson said, “The one in the back corner of the backyard bordering the preserve.”

Peter looked confused as he said, “There is no greenhouse in the backyard, either of our backyards.”

Stiles nodded, “There is but it’s warded so only Dad and I can see it, even if you walked into it you wouldn’t be able to see it, now obviously the bond means Jackson can see it and probably access it to which I expected after what happened in the preserve. Anyway, I should be able to use that to create eye drops that Deucalion can use to heal the damage completely. I just need to find the right recipe in the books.”

“Druids have been our emissaries for centuries,” Deucalion said with an air of confusion, “Are you saying there are other magic users who would make better emissaries?”

Stiles nodded, “A druid’s first oath is to the balance, good vs evil, blah blah, bullshit. They will not act if they can see the action working to restore their idea of balance. Look at the fires taking out packs, if the packs had a druid as their emissary, they may have considered the lack of fire wards on the land balancing out the perceived power the pack has. Especially for an alpha with the reputation of Talia Hale.”

Deucalion nodded and he asked, “What other magic users are there?”

Stiles shrugged, “Dragons, although we are rare thanks to the hunters, and not all species of dragons have magic. There are sparks, mages, even witches would be better emissaries than a druid.”

Stiles picked up one of the books, as he read through it he eventually grinned, “Found it. Mom knew there was a local pack so she made sure I knew how to cure different types of wolfsbane poisoning, just in case. I suspect she knew Talia’s emissary and didn’t trust them.” 

Deucalion frowned, “You don’t know her emissary?”

Peter shook his head, “I can feel the emissary bond, but it’s blocked. Only Talia and Laura knew their identity.”

Derek said quietly, “I’m pretty sure it’s Dr. Deaton, the town vet and McCall’s boss. I figured it out when Laura kept getting letters from him. I thought he had lured her to town and killed her for the alpha power but then I realized it wasn’t him when you nearly killed me at the school and I figured out he was probably the emissary, sorry I would have said something sooner but I thought you knew.”

Deucalion nodded, “He’s the one who healed what he could after Gerard attacked me, and then my own emissary backed up his opinion.

Peter wrinkled his nose and he said, “Well at least now I know who it is so I can cut the bond.”

They all fell silent for a while as Stiles started mixing up the solution to fix the poisoning in the alpha’s eyes. The solution was a fairly easy one, it just involved the right ratio of comfrey and the correct strain of wolfsbane with purified water to force the eyes to heal properly. He also had to push a bit of his magic in as he was grinding and mixing to assist with the healing process.

Deucalion was excited about the possibility of getting his sight back but dubious at the help being offered for free so he asked, “What’s involved with the eye drops. What do I need to do? Most importantly, what will I owe you.”

Stiles shook up the solution in the eyedropper bottle he had and he held it out to Deucalion. “You need to put two drops in each eye once a day for the next seven days. Try to do it at the same time every day and make sure you do it while you’re beta shifted. It will sting a bit as they push your body to heal your eyes and rid yourself of the wolfsbane poisoning. You owe me nothing except to take me with you when you visit Doc Deaton, I just love the mystified look on their faces when druids are made to look stupid.”

Peter offered, “You could stay with us while you heal. Last I heard you had good seconds who could look after the pack in your absence. You could tell them you’re observing the investigation into the Argents.”

Deucalion muttered, “I wanted you for my second but Talia wouldn’t let you go. Kali and Ennis do a good job but I know at some point they are going to want their own pack.”

Peter looked up in shock, “What?”

Cora hugged her uncle tight and she said, “I was hiding in mom’s office and I overheard Deucalion petition mom for permission to formally court you, but she turned him down flat. She said she was sure her brother could do better than a blind alpha.”

Peter whispered, “Your mother was a fucking bitch.”

Cora nodded in agreement.

Stiles suggested, “Alpha, why don't you show Deucalion to one of the spare rooms down here and help him put in the first round of drops.” To Deucalion, he said, “You should get most of your vision back straight away but you’ll need to complete the round to clear out all the wolfsbane that the flashbang would have forced into your eyes.”

They both nodded and Peter led Deucalion to the spare room next to the one Jackson had claimed, he knew Jackson wouldn’t be using it as he was spending his nights with Stiles these days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I write for fun and escapism what you see is what you get. Thanks for reading my brainchild I hope you’re enjoying it.
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr: [HarleyJQuinWrites.tumblr.com](https://harleyjquinwrites.tumblr.com/)  
> Or Discord: [Pigtails and Pens Discord](https://discord.gg/UVqY8HCJsW)


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**March 4th, 2011**

Jackson and Stiles dragged the group through to the library, they sat Derek down, and in unison they asked, “What happened?”

Derek sighed and Danny sat down beside him to offer comfort as Derek explained, “I was out running, I needed air, you know. One minute I was running through the preserve, the next thing I knew I was waking up bound to a fence with electricity running through me so I couldn’t shift. She had a generator hooked up to the fence I was bound to as well as prongs stabbed into my side” He fingered the fading scars that still remained from the prongs.

Stiles snarled, “Kate.”

Derek nodded, “She even brought Allison along to teach her about how wolves are beasts.” Derek shuddered, “The crazy bitch acted like I wanted to be there, like I enjoyed being bound and touched. She’s seriously delusional.”

“Fuck.” Danny breathed, “What the hell.”

Derek was done discussing it so he asked, “How did you find me?”

Stiles grinned, “Allison was talking to Scott and Lydia about you, and she let slip about where Kate was holding you as they were talking her out of reporting it.”

Cora snarled, “They did what?”

Danny shrugged, “McCall was bitten against his will by Peter, although he doesn’t know that it was Peter yet, so he’s reacted to the lack of consent by siding with the Argents. He’s dating Allison Argent and he believes that the Argents are doing the right thing in hunting all wolves. What’s most unbelievable is that even though the bite cured his asthma it’s still the worst thing that ever happened to him.”

Stiles added, “Derek tried to help him when he first turned by trying to keep him from killing people during the full moon, but Scott has issues with anyone in what he perceives as positions of authority trying to set rules for him. Daddy issues… So he now sees anyone with the name Hale as the devil incarnate.”

Jackson rolled his eyes at the stupidity of his co-captain and he snuggled into Stiles on the bean bag they were sharing.

Derek asked, “So… You guys fully accepted the bond?”

Stiles nodded, “Yep, it has the added bonus of seriously upsetting both Lydia and Scotty.� Which reminds me, Jackson, we need to go shopping for our suits for winter formal.” He set his laser focus on Cora and he asked, “Are you joining us at school?”

Cora nodded, “We picked up copies of my transcript before we left. Deucalion said he would take me to the sheriff’s office tomorrow to explain where I’ve been for the last six years.”

Stiles nodded, “I’ll introduce you to dad at the station, he’s aware of the dangers the Argent’s pose to the Hales.”

Cora nodded, “Cool. He won’t be home tonight?”

Danny snorted, “He will be staying at the station making sure no one drops the ball with the crazy Argent’s arrest. He’s pissed that she pulled this shit under his nose with help from his own deputies. They arrested two earlier in the week for taking bribes.”

Cora looked between Jackson and Stiles and she said, “When I left you two hated each other. What happened?”

She dropped to the floor and crouched in front of Jackson and Stiles and she whispered, “And don’t think I have forgotten that you aren’t a shifter I recognize either Jackson. Can I see?”

Jackson asked snidely, “Why, so you can laugh at the freak who couldn’t even take a werewolf bite properly.”

Stiles tried to stand but Jackson held on like an octopus and he whimpered, _’Sorry.’_

Stiles slumped in the bean bag and he asked silently, _‘How can you accept our bond when you can’t even accept yourself.’_

Jackson shrugged, _‘The bond is easy, it’s a lot easier to accept something that was probably fated than the fact I couldn’t even get a werewolf bite right.’_

Stiles smiled sadly, _‘I don’t think you got it wrong. I still think if I hadn’t been in the pack bond when you were bitten you would have turned to a wolf.’_

Jackson punched him lightly and he reminded him, _‘You weren’t when I was bitten. I was bitten first, remember.’_

Cora asked, “What are they doing?”

Danny sighed, “Talking. They can talk telepathically through their bond, they do it all day at school, I think it’s almost second nature for them now.”

Derek raised an eyebrow and he asked, “Are they that obvious at school?”

Danny shook his head, “Nope. Most wouldn’t know, but their scent changes while they are talking mostly in amusement, but occasionally anger and rage if Harris is bullying them. That bastard is going to be unbearable if the FBI arrests him.”

Jackson smirked, “We do it while we are sparring too. It’s good practice for when we are out on patrol, it’s like the ultimate stealth tool.”

Stiles sat up and he said, “Ralph found us a therapist. He got me to seal a privacy vow with her before school on Friday at the station when I dropped off Dad’s lunch. She’s agreed to fit in all the pack members into her schedule and Ralph will be arranging appointments for everyone.”

Derek nodded, “I definitely need it after the last six years.”

Cora asked, “What I want to know is how did Laura hide you? We’ve been searching for you for years.”

“I was registered for high school under a false identity.” Derek explained, “I used the same name when I registered for Columbia with their full awareness, they treated it like someone transferring in when they are under witness protection. It kept me safe from being found but it also prevented Laura from finding out I was circumventing her orders in my own way.”

Stiles grinned, “That’s smart. Will they correct your name now that you’re no longer in hiding?”

Derek nodded, “My advisor got the ball rolling not long after I arrived in Beacon Hills. I am just glad I was ahead on my assignments before Kate kidnapped me, I won’t have to stress about trying to catch up.”

Cora asked, “So where am I sleeping? I don’t care as long as it’s away from Uncle Peter’s reunion with Deucalion. I’m sure it will be explosive.”

Stiles suggested, “You can take the guest room Derek was using at our place before he moved downstairs. I need to drop Dad’s lunch off tomorrow so I can introduce you and Deucalion.”

“We,” Jackson added, “Since, as you reminded me earlier, we still need to go suit shopping for winter formal on Friday. I have ideas and I know the perfect store to see how they look, Danny, do you want to join us?”

Danny shrugged and with a glance at Derek beside him he said, “I’ll think about it, check with me before you leave.”

Stiles stood and stretched, “If I have torture tomorrow I’m going to get an early night, Cora follow me, and I’ll show you to your room.”

-x-

Meanwhile, Peter had led Deucalion to one of the spare rooms in the basement. He let the alpha into the room and he said, “This one should be pretty quiet. Jackson has the room next door, but he spends most nights up with Stiles.”

Deucalion asked, “Aren’t they both underage?”

Peter nodded, “They are, but they are a bonded pair and Noah trusts them to take things slowly. Jackson’s scaly side creeps through the house when he tries to sleep down here anyway.”

Deucalion held out the eyedrops, “Care to help me?”

Peter took the drops and he said, “It will probably be easier if you sit on the bed. From what he said the first dose will probably hurt.”

He led Deucalion to the bed and waited as he got comfortable, he murmured, “She went out of her way to keep us apart. I wish I knew why.”

Deucalion reached out and pulled Peter so he was standing in the V of his legs, “I don’t know either, as far as I knew we had a good relationship, a healthy alliance at the least. When I first made noises about courting you, she sounded concerned about the age gap.”

Peter growled, “Which we both know is bullshit since you’re only a few years older than me.”

The alpha agreed, “My request which Cora overheard was my last-ditch effort to have you as my alpha mate. I had made it clear you would be my equal in the pack, not my second.”

Peter dropped to the floor and put his head in Deucalion’s lap. “That fucking bitch did everything she could to ruin my happiness. I just don’t understand why.”

Deucalion tried to soothe Peter as he ran his fingers through the alpha’s hair. “With her and Laura both gone, and can I just say good riddance to bad alphas, we’ll probably never know.”

Peter nodded and he stood, “Let’s get your drops done so you can get some sleep.”

As Deucalion shifted Peter resisted the urge to run his fingers along the various ridges on the alpha’s face. He tapped the bottom of his chin and he said, “Tilt your head back and I’ll try and be quick with the drops.”

He carefully read the label and he took note of the warning that Deucalion would need to be restrained as the first dose did the bulk of the healing. That no matter how much it hurt he couldn’t rub his eyes to get rid of the pain. Peter pulled a decent amount of fluid into the dropper before he sealed the bottle and placed it out of harm's way. He knew there were plenty of spare droppers in the workshop.

He murmured, “This is going to hurt and no matter what happens you can’t rub your eyes. Ok?”

Deucalion nodded and he braced himself for the drops.

As soon as the drops were in, he roared loudly at the pain and it took all of Peter’s strength to wrap himself around the other alpha like a Koala to stop him from touching his eyes as they healed. He murmured, “Come on Duke, ride it out, you know it’ll be worth it.”

It took the drops about five minutes of agony to take effect and by the end of it, both alphas were exhausted. Peter stood and he said, “I should let you rest,” 

He turned for the door but froze when he heard Deucalion say tiredly, “Stay, please.”

Peter shook his head, “Look, I understand that Talia turned you down. But you didn’t fight for me either. I tried to get in touch a few times after that peace meeting and you never answered.”

“I couldn’t.” Deucalion said quietly, “Talia was waiting for me on the road out of town as I was leaving, she threatened if I spoke to you again, she would file a formal charge of harassment of a beta with the alpha council. I was waiting to get more of the alpha’s onside before I tried again.”

Peter sighed, “And then the fire happened and you were told I had died.”

Deucalion stood and plastered himself along Peter’s back, “Exactly so. I never gave up on you Peter, you are still the only one I have ever wanted as my mate.”

He could feel Peter wavering so he begged, “Please stay. I’ve missed you so.”

Peter nodded and he whispered, “I missed you too, so so much.”

-x-

They had a quick breakfast the next morning, Stiles checked over Deucalion’s eyes while Danny had a whispered conversation with Jackson. He bowed out of the shopping trip with a comment that was easily interpreted by Jackson as he was still trying to convince someone to be his date.

Stiles packed a spare uniform for Noah in his duffle, and he added a few Tupperware containers of healthy food before they all trooped out to their cars. Peter had decided to accompany the group to the station, he was hoping that now his burns were healed no one would recognize him or connect him to the Hale family.

On the way to the station they stopped in at the Animal Clinic, they decided it would be a good time to confront the cryptic vet.

Dr. Deaton walked out from the back room when he heard the bell and he stopped at the counter and gazed at the group. Cora had opted to stay in the car with Jackson, so it was just Peter, Deucalion, and Stiles there for the discussion. Peter would have preferred that Stiles stay behind as well but Deucalion had promised that he could see the druid’s reaction to his healed eyesight.

Stiles had money riding on the reaction being an accusation of dark magic being used in the healing. He knew many druids believed if they couldn’t do it, then it must be dark magic.

After assessing the group the vet asked, “Can I help you, gentlemen?”

Deucalion nodded and he ordered, “You can start by telling us why you feel it's appropriate to block your side of the emissary bond to the alpha you’re oath-bound to.”

Deaton blinked slowly before he said, “My alpha was killed by a foreign wolf. I blocked the emissary bond to protect the pack secrets.”

Peter snorted, “Wow. That’s some creative revisionism. You know damn well that the alpha spark was still with a Hale, still bound to the land. So please do try that again, why did you block your end of the emissary bond.” 

Stiles snarked, “It’s almost as if you were scared that the new alpha would terminate the bond if they could find you.”

Deaton tried to smile benignly, but it came out looking a lot more nervous. “I knew nothing of the sort Mr. Stilinski. I was merely trying to protect the pack that was left from an unstable alpha.”

Peter snarked, “Except we all know that’s not true. When an alpha is killed for their spark the pack members must accept them before there is a bond. The only bonds that remain are any pre-existing pack bonds, and the emissary bond. The emissary can always tell if the new alpha is family or not.”

Deucalion chuckled, “And you always claimed to be a powerful emissary.” He took off his sunglasses and enjoyed the gasp of surprise from the soon-to-be-former emissary when he saw Deucalion’s eyes were completely healed. “Oh wait, perhaps that was just Talia blowing things out of proportion again.”

Dr. Deaton narrowed his eyes and he demanded, “Who did you sacrifice to get your vision back?”

Stiles burst out laughing and he wheezed, “No dark magic involved at all Doc. Just some good old fashion potions. Two drops in each eye every day for a week and wham bam all fixed ma’am.” He silently sent a message to his mate, _‘Called it! You owe me dinner. The first thing he asked when he saw Deucalion wasn’t blind, was who we sacrificed.’_

Dr. Deaton said impassively, “Interesting. Why would you heal a rival alpha?”

Peter grinned, “Who said it was us. It’s been over seven years since he was blinded. He could have been healed any time since then.”

“I would know,” Dr. Deaton stated confidently, “My sister would have told me.”

Deucalion frowned and he asked, “Your sister?” He looked like a lightbulb had gone off and he asked, “Marin?”

Dr. Deaton didn’t move but the three men in the room all heard the blip in his heartbeat. Deucalion muttered, “Looks like I need a new emissary, one who knows the meaning of oaths and loyalty.”

Peter sighed, “I think it’s clear your loyalty to the Hale Pack is non-existent. You allowed your last alpha to abandon her pack and abuse her only beta without question.”

The vet held his hands out in a calming motion and he asked, “What would you’ve expected me to do. She left town, I couldn’t just go galavanting off across the country.”

Peter shook his head and rolled his eyes at the protest, “You talked to her every week. The problem with living in a small apartment with a beta you won’t allow to leave, they overhear everything.”

When the doctor refused to rise to the bait, Peter had decided enough was enough. He reached inside and found the emissary bond, he was able to see more of it but the doctor was still actively blocking it. Peter flared his eyes red and with a strong alpha voice, he intoned, “Druid Deaton. You have forsaken the Hale Pack, you have broken your oaths to stay loyal to your pack and loyal to the land. As the Hale Alpha, I cast you out of the Hale Pack. As a token of goodwill to the years of service to my sister we give you a year to leave Beacon County.”

He pulled at the emissary bond and at the druid’s gasp he violently snapped the bond, and cast the emissary out of the pack completely. 

Deucalion shook his head, “Need I remind you Druid Deaton of the oaths you took when you became the Hale Emissary. You are still bound to keep all the secrets of the Hale Pack until you die. Should you betray those secrets your life will be forfeit.”

Dr. Deaton nodded, “I understand. Will that be all gentlemen?”

Stiles rolled his eyes and left the clinic, he needed a hug from his bonded after dealing with the pet vet. The two alphas followed him out, as they left Dr. Deaton called out, “You know, I advised Talia that you wouldn’t be a good match. You are both too domineering to submit to each other, especially now you’re both alphas.”

They ignored him and left the clinic, they still had to see the sheriff.

-x-

Stiles led the group back to Noah’s office and seeing he was alone doing paperwork he guided them all in and shut the door.

Noah looked up at the group with a raised eyebrow and he asked, “Stiles?”

Stiles pushed Cora ahead of the group and he said, “Daddio, meet Cora Hale.”

Noah stood and he grinned, “Good to meet you, Cora. Have a seat everyone,” He saw Stiles and Jackson try to creep out of the room so he pointed at them and he said, “Stiles, Jackson, you too. Sit! So, Cora, where have you been hiding for the last six years?”

Deucalion said smoothly, “With me and my pack.”

Cora nodded, “Uncle Peter trusted Alpha Morgan, Deucalion, above all others and I knew he wouldn’t tell Laura where I was.”

Noah grinned, “Good plan. Did you hear any of the hunters at the house during the fire?”

Cora nodded, “They were sick bastards. They were literally assigning points to where on the body their bullets would hit anyone escaping the house. Headshot was 50 points, arm and legs were 35, the torso was only 10 points, unless it was the heart which was 25.”

Noah looked green at the thought of a ten-year-old kid hearing the hunters chatting so callously while knowing her family was trapped in the house. He said quietly, “Let me call Tara in here to get your statement. Alpha Morgan, she will also need to take yours as you’ve harbored Cora for all these years.”

Peter commented, “Just make sure you mention the known danger to the Hale family, that you were told I was killed in the fire, and that you knew Laura had taken Derek and left town to parts unknown. That as soon as you knew Derek had returned to Beacon Hills you brought her home. How about I call Ralph down here to represent you both in the interviews.”

Noah nodded his agreement, “That’s a good idea, it’ll cover your asses and he will make sure you don’t say more in the statement than you absolutely have to.”

Peter made the call while Noah called Tara in and introduced her to Cora Hale. They waited for Ralph to arrive to take their statements as Stiles and Jackson left for the mall.

When Cora was in the interview room Peter asked, “How did it go with Kate? The boys said her arrest was anticlimactic that she was groggy from a sedative?”

Noah smirked, “She was, once she was fully awake she was in fine form. Damn near screaming the hospital down about the Hales being beasts who should be killed. One of the nurses on duty asked if she was trying for an insanity plea. Pretty sure she’s one who used to work with Kirsten.”

Peter frowned, “There is no way they would allow an insanity plea, not with this level of premeditation and planning that has gone into the fires. She’s shown a high degree of rationality and logic in who she’s targeted with what we know so far.”

Noah nodded, “We suspect she’s going to try and claim they are all monsters doing monstrous things. When most, like your family, were pillars of the communities they were involved in.”

Peter sighed, “She’s dreaming. I was talking to Agent Booth the other night and I asked about the unit he was working with. All of the auxiliary staff that works with their unit are supernaturals or supernaturally aware. They also make sure the judges and jury are aware. It’s something arranged with the various councils so the supernatural isn’t outed by the human justice system. I am sure the psychiatrist who will be brought in to assess her will completely dismiss her attempts at seeming insane.”

Noah smirked, “They will, she’s not very good at it. Mostly ranting and raving like a kid throwing a tantrum.”

Peter asked, “Will you be interviewing Lydia and Scott? Since they knew about him being held and his location but decided not to tell anyone? They could be charged with withholding evidence at the very least.”

“Charged yes,” Noah agreed, “But it’s a bit of a case of he said, she said. The kid’s parents would scream bloody murder if we tried based on the word of Stiles and Jackson.” 

Deucalion asked, “How bad are their burns?”

Noah shook his head, “I shouldn’t be telling either of you this, but honestly, I think Peter, out of anyone she’s attacked, deserves to hear their prognosis after what she’s put him through. We are still trying to identify the hunter who was standing in front of her. He is still touch and go and hasn’t yet woken up. Her hands and arms took most of the flames, they aren’t sure at this stage if she will ever regain movement in her fingers as she was burnt down to the bone in some places. She’ll need to wear pressure gloves for several years once the burns are healed somewhat.”

Deucalion smirked, “Sounds like karma to me.”

Noah chuckled as Cora walked back into the room, “No comment.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I write for fun and escapism what you see is what you get. Thanks for reading my brainchild I hope you’re enjoying it.
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr: [HarleyJQuinWrites.tumblr.com](https://harleyjquinwrites.tumblr.com/)  
> Or Discord: [Pigtails and Pens Discord](https://discord.gg/UVqY8HCJsW)

**Author's Note:**

> I write for fun and escapism. Thanks for reading my fic I hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> You can find me on Tumblr: [HarleyJQuinWrites.tumblr.com](https://harleyjquinwrites.tumblr.com/)


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